The public accountability of private police: Lessons from new york, johannesburg, and mexico City

The accountability of public police has been well documented. The role and function of internal affairs divisions, civilian review boards, the media, and criminal and civil courts has been explored in many works. The same cannot be said about their private counterparts. Since the beginning of the 1970s, the global community has witnessed a surge in the number of and the reliance upon private police forces. Yet, empirical knowledge about their functions is hard to find and the mechanisms through which they are held accountable are still relatively unknown. This article explores the multiple paths through which private police are accountable in three applications drawn from diverse parts of the world. We conclude effective accountability is possible for private police through a variety of mechanisms.