Public Awareness of PSCs’ Role in the Society
PSCs are said to fill a gap left open by inadequate public police
policing. The services they provide are only procured by individuals who
can afford to pay for their services. Thus, it is not a protection which
the ordinary man in the street benefits. The implication is that members
of the public lack adequate knowledge of the duties they perform or even
their role in the security architecture of the society. This lack of
public awareness of their role and functions places a smack on their
importance in the society. Cozens (2011) argues that based on this
backdrop, the effectiveness of private security companies is
significantly limited to their area of jurisdiction or sphere of
operation (Cozens, 2011). This means that the duties and roles of the
private security companies are not clearly known by the general public
and even to the police. Mesko, Nalla and Sotlar (2004) in their study
carried out in Slovenia found that members of the public have little
knowledge of the works of private security companies. In the same vein,
Shearing, Stenning and Addario (1985) study in Canada, found that the
public have no idea about the duties of private security guards.
Furthermore, Inyang and Abraham (2014) in their study of Akwa Ibom state
found that 75.3% of the public did not know anything about PSCs and
their crime control functions. The effect is that the public have
limited information about the existence, role, relevance and
contribution of PSCs in the security arrangement in the country. This
may be due mainly to poor media reportage of the existence, role and
importance of PSCs in complementing the efforts of public police in
crime control in the country. Media coverage and reports of PSC’s
participation in crime control in the country will enhance their
acceptability, growth and contribution to national security policing as
the public become more aware of their role in the country.