The uniforms of private security companies should not be like those of police

Dear Editor,

There is a long established convention in the private security industry which holds that no entity or individual operating in the sector should use any markings or present themselves in such a way that is mistaken for any branch of the state’s security apparatus. I am therefore bewildered that one security company has broken this long established convention to the extent that its officers are often confused with police officers. For some unexplained reason this has gone unnoticed by the Ministry of Public Security, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Association for Private Security Organisations.

There are three good reasons why the United Nations advised its member countries to maintain a clear distinction between the two sectors. First, it provides a guarantee to citizens who on seeing the police, know that they are seeing the police; second, it sends a clear message to other branches of the state’s security system; and third, it prevents employees of the private security sector from hazards and dangers associated with policing, so that criminals do not easily mistake them for police officers.

Many citizens who see a member or group of security officers employed by this company on their motor cycles riding in the middle of the road, sometimes in twos, with the firm’s armoured vests are confused as to whether they are really police officers. In fact, they wear khaki shirts like the special constabulary that are concealed by the armoured vests. This type of ‘parallel power’ should not be tolerated in any form or fashion. I remember vividly how the community policing groups of old were often politicized to the point where they saw themselves as the official police rather than auxiliaries. I am respectfully asking the relevant authorities to please take note.

Yours faithfully, Clairmont Featherstone Managing Director Intelliguard