The Growth of Private Policing: Discuss
             Policing is what police officers do. In a common usage, most people understand the term 'policing' to mean the law enforcement, investigation and peacekeeping activities undertaken by police officers. Indeed, the Concise English Dictionary defines the noun 'police' as the 'civil force of a state responsible for maintaining public order.' (Jones and Newburn, 1998) There is however, common use of the term 'policing' which most often refers to broader 'social control activities.' Activities having to do with policing are in a sense, undertaken by parents, teachers... and a whole range of people, as well as members of the police force. Do to much confusion on the term and the way policing is used, there is an underlying need to be clear about what constitutes policing. Police is usually understood as the organized civil force of a state, dealing with detection and prevention of crime and maintenance of law and order. The police are "...persons with a special legal status employed by governments to preserve the peace" (Shearing, Farnell & Stenning 1980). In the 20th century, man has gradually accepted these men as the sole and ultimate source for performing such tasks but it must be added that today neither employers nor employees necessarily are connected to governments. Policing is not even the work of a particular group of people; it is a set of activities - activities that consists of both private and public initiatives. Not all of them are organized; some of these activities are regular parts of every-day life. The actual word policing has various meanings but in the sense it is relevant for us, private can be described as: of, relating to, or provided by a private individual or organization, rather than by a public body or the state. An important distinction is who pays for the services performed. Policing by private bodies that are paid ...