The "High Policing" Privatization Hypothesis, and how to Explore it

Frédéric Ocqueteau (1)

1 CESDIP - Centre de recherches sociologiques sur le droit et les institutions pénales

The paper makes a literal interpretation of Jean-Paul Brodeur's response to the work of two British scholars on the privatization of " high policing " (or intelligence-led policing). Building on French empirical research, we discuss the body of knowledge created by exploring the diversity of both the customer base of private security agencies and the internal safety departments of sensitive corporations that may require their services. We discuss the delicate nature of the potential privatization of the information held by the various official intelligence agencies, an attribute of sovereignty not seriously undermined so far. The revolution has not yet been initiated that will convert the cost of public (military or policing) intelligence--which is meant to protect the institutions--into a price to be paid to private intelligence companies --whose goal is to protect the security of corporations and their customers. However, several forerunners can be detected in the so-called "economic intelligence" community, although they mainly contract with state-controlled arms industry actors directly managed by the ministry of Defense staff.

Domaines: Sociologie

Frédéric Ocqueteau. The "High Policing" Privatization Hypothesis, and how to Explore it. Penal Field, 2012, IX, http://champpenal.revues.org/8313. ⟨hal-00744392⟩