Private Security: A Retrospective

The short review of the little-known and little-understood history of private security covers the highlights of the development of police, both public and private, from the beginning—when shepherds were used to guard flocks and warn of raids by other tribes—to the modern period in the United States. Highlighted are the vestigial use of mercenaries by small principalities; the decision by the American Constitutional Convention not to use the French or Continental police system; as well as the manner in which private security, especially as spearheaded by Allan Pinkerton, filled the void in law enforcement in the second half of the nineteenth century.