SSR ISSue PaPeRS
N. 9 — Jn 2012
Fr Prit Scrit t PbicG: Rgting th PritScrit Instr in Hiti
Gff Brt
Haiti
THe CeNTRe FoR INTeRNaTIoNal GoveRNaNCe INNovaTIoNSSR ISSue PaPeRS: No. 9www.CIGIoNlINe.oRG FRom PRIvaTe SeCuRITy To PuBlIC Good:ReGulaTING THe PRIvaTe SeCuRITy INduSTRy IN HaITI
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Copyright © 2012 by The Centre for International Governance Innovation.Research for this report was funded by a special project grant fromthe Canadian Department of National Defence’s Security and DefenceForum (SDF).The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do
not necessarily reect the views of The Centre for International Governance
Innovation or its Operating Board of Directors or International Board ofGovernors.This work was carried out with the support of the Centre for InternationalGovernance Innovation (CIGI), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (www.cigionline.org). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Aribution — Non-commercial — No Derivatives License. To view thislicense, visit (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). For re-
use or distribution, please include this copyright notice.Cover photo: A Haitian security guard eyes the entrance of a warehouse as
workers unload bags containing our in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, followingthe earthquake on January 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
About the SSr ISSuepAperS
The
Security Sector Reorm (SSR) Issue Papers
,produced by The Centre or InternationalGovernance Innovation (CIGI), are a producto CIGI’s Security Sector Governance project.Authored by prominent practitioners in theeld, policy makers, academics and inormedobservers, the papers in this series will contributeto ongoing debates and infuence policy on issuesrelated to SSR. Combining analysis o currentproblems and challenges, they will examinethematic and geographic topics relating to themost pressing SSR issues.Series Editor: Mark SedraSeries Coordinator: Michael Lawrence
SummAry
Haiti, like many countries, relies heavily on privatesecurity companies to protect people and property.However, while the private security industry has avital role to play in stabilizing the country, it has longunctioned without eective government oversight.Haiti’s security sector reorm (SSR) process has begunto address this shortcoming. The paper analyzes thecurrent state o the private security industry in Haitiand the legal ramework under which it operates, andmakes recommendations or how a reormed legaland regulatory regime can guide the next phase o its development, based on interviews with ownersand agents o private security companies, industryassociations, senior Haitian police personnel, UnitedNations (UN) planners and parliamentary leaders.The paper concludes that genuine consultation andpartnership between the government, industry andcivil society is required, i SSR programs in Haiti andelsewhere are to successully marshal private resourcestowards the public good.
THe CeNTRe FoR INTeRNaTIoNal GoveRNaNCe INNovaTIoNSSR ISSue PaPeRS: No. 9www.CIGIoNlINe.oRG FRom PRIvaTe SeCuRITy To PuBlIC Good:ReGulaTING THe PRIvaTe SeCuRITy INduSTRy IN HaITI
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IntroductIon
Heavy reliance on private security companies (PSCs) toprotect people and property is a global phenomenon,reshaping security provision in societies around theworld. In many developed countries, such as the UnitedStates, the United Kingdom and Israel, the budgets o PSCs and the number o personnel they employ exceedthose o public law enorcement agencies (Richards andSmith, 2007), with some major North American citiesreaching a ratio o private security to police greater thanseven to one (Lalonde, 2010). In states undergoing SSRit is common or the size o the private security industryto exceed that o the public police orce, sometimes by awide margin. A recent study estimated that more peopleare employed globally as civilian private security agentsthan as police ocers (Van Dijk, 2008: 215). In LatinAmerica and the Caribbean, the ratio o private securityto police ranges rom less than 1:1 in Ecuador to 4.9:1 inHonduras (Small Arms Survey, 2011). Unsurprisingly,PSCs are oten among the largest groups o armed actorsin a country. The SSR model emphasizes democraticcivilian control over all orms o armed orce — bothpublic and private — rendering the legal structure,licensing and regulation o the private security industryan important consideration or reorm.In well-unctioning systems, proper regulation helpsto ensure that, in the course o serving their particularprivate interests, PSCs and their agents contribute topublic saety and security by providing a deterrent toproperty crime and securing public spaces. They are alsoimportant partners in community policing strategies,reporting suspicious behaviour and relaying securityconcerns to the police. In the absence o eective publicregulation, PSCs “will naturally prioritise the needs o owners and shareholders over those o the public at large”(Richards and Smith, 2007: 11). In the process, they may be co-opted by political groups and become involved
AcronymS AndAbbrevIAtIonS
APAS Association Proessionnelle des Agences deSécuritéDCPA Direction Centrale de la PoliceAdministratrive (Central Directorate o Administrative Police)DDR disarmament, demobilization andreintegrationFAd’H Forces Armées d’Haïti (Haitian ArmedForces)FLACSO Latin American Faculty o Social SciencesHNP Haitian National PoliceICOC International Code o Conduct or PrivateSecurity ProvidersMICT Ministère de l’Intérieur et des CollectivitésTerritoriales (Ministry o Interior andCollective Territories)MINUSTAH UN Stabilization Mission in HaitiOAS Organization o American StatesOECD DAC Organisation or Economic Co-operationand Development’s Development AssistanceCommitteeOPC Oce de la Protection du Citoyen (Oce o Citizen Protection)PSCs private security companiesPSRA Private Security Regulation Authority(Jamaica)SSR security sector reormUN United NationsUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNICEF United Nations Children’s FundUNSG UN Secretary-General
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From Private Security to Public Good: Regulating the Private Security Industry in Haiti by Geoff Burt
CIGI - SSR ISSue PaPeRS
No. 9 — June 2012
No. 9 — June 2012
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