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Exploring questions of power: Peace officers and private security


John Kole

Abstract

There is a need for different stakeholders to work together to help the South African Police Service (SAPS) combat crime in Gauteng. Through the Constitution, the SAPS is mandated to combat crime. Private security officers (PSOs) are well positioned to help the police, as they may witness crimes in the course of their duties. PSOs protect organisations (public and private) and individuals as their paying clients. But the PSOs can only perform their duty as ordinary citizens, not as police. This article presents the findings of interviews and a survey intended to gauge the extent to which senior actors in the private security industry and the police think security officers need additional legal powers, and what powers would be suitable for them to help the police combat crime.


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2413-3108
print ISSN: 1991-3877