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.