Private police

Private police or special police are law enforcement bodies that are owned and/or controlled by non-governmental entities. Additionally, the term can refer to an off-duty police officer while working for a private entity, providing security, or otherwise law enforcement-related services. These officers do have power to uphold the laws under the discretion of the private company. In jurisdictions that allow private police, private police may be employed and paid for by a non-governmental agency, such as a railroad, or port, or university, or nuclear facility, or hospital, but they are peace officers or law enforcement officers that are commissioned, licensed, and regulated by the state. They are required to swear an oath to uphold the laws of the state where they are commissioned and follow the same regulations peace officers / law enforcement officers must abide by. The main difference between a private police officer and a regular police officer is who is signing their paycheck and their jurisdiction. Many people confuse private police with security guards, but they are not the same thing. Not all security guards have police power, whereas private police are sworn police officers employed by private entities, or even small governmental departments (such as library police, etc.). Private police departments receive their commissions from the state (or counties, municipalities, etc.), but are generally not considered government actors. Security officers are regulated by the state, but generally do not have police powers, such as the ability to arrest on a warrant, or issue citations and summons for misdemeanor offenses. Private police (also called company police) are commissioned police officers that are hired by a non-governmental agency, such as a university, hospital, port, nuclear facility, railroad, etc. These police officers swear an oath to the state or country (or both) they are commissioned in but are paid for by the private organization that hired them.

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Private police

Security guard

A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety of hazards (such as crime, waste, damages, unsafe worker behavior, etc.) by enforcing preventative measures.

Watchman (law enforcement)

Watchmen were organised groups of men, usually authorised by a state, government, city, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement as well as traditionally perform the services of public safety, fire watch, crime prevention, crime detection, and recovery of stolen goods. Watchmen have existed since earliest recorded times in various guises throughout the world and were generally succeeded by the emergence of formally organised professional policing.

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