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Police vs Private Security: Know the difference [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-06-16
So the big difference between a police officer and a security guard is that police have police powers: they have the lawful authority to conduct arrests, searches, and traffic stops. Security guards have the same lawful authority as a Starbucks barista. They can politely ask you to leave, and they can call the police if you don’t.
I went to work for Pinkerton Security in 1999 during the dotcom boom, because Rally’s and the nearby gas station wouldn’t hire me. I’m autistic, and it’s okay to make fun of me. I actually kind of like it.
I worked private security for 18 years. On a couple occasions, I did apply to become a police officer, but I never made it past the interview phase. But one time, a woman mistook me for a police officer.
I was asked to check on a client facility in the middle of the night. I had a key to the building and a key to the gate, but the gate key didn’t work. I was crawling under the gate when a pedestrian noticed me. She asked what I was doing, and I explained that I was just checking on the building. She offered to call the police (this was before most people had cell phones), and I stressed to her that I would call the police myself with my company-issued phone if I needed police.
I finished crawling under the gate, went inside the building, found nothing wrong, and went back outside to find six City of Fort Wayne police officers. They weren’t happy. They told me that lady said I was a Fort Wayne police officer and chasing a suspect.
Folks, I was wearing a completely different uniform than what the police wore, and I was also driving a Ford Focus. Mistaking me for a cop was like mistaking a beagle for a German Shepherd. If you’re paying attention, you can easily tell the difference. But this woman made a bona-fide mistake that caused the police and me a bit of inconvenience.
Most of you are already aware of problems caused by bad cops. It has been my experience that there are quite a few bad security guards too. And it doesn’t take much imagination to think that a bad security guard might be brazen enough to pose as a police officer.
This country should have a conversation about making it easier to identify authentic police and making it harder to impersonate them. Personally, I think all police officers MUST wear a uniform and a body camera during all arrests and searches. And I think they should only conduct traffic stops in clearly marked vehicles that say “POLICE” in big letters.
Until those changes are made, here is how you can tell the difference and protect yourself.
1. Take the time to learn the uniforms of the police in your area: city, county, state, etc. Learn their badges, headgear, patches, and whether or not they have that stripe on their pants.
2. Some security guards are armed, some are not. I can’t think of a police department in the US that has unarmed uniformed officers. Every police officer I met in uniform had a sidearm clearly visible in the holster.
3. Police cruisers in the US are almost always domestically produced and have to be a minimum size. I’ve seen Ford Mustangs and Chevy Camaros used by highway police before. But these days, most of the police vehicles I see are SUV’s. It might be different in your area.
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