[12] However, as of 1 July 2021,[13] all Rule 400/A SPOs were stripped of their police powers and the automatic right to carry a firearm on-duty,[14] due to the passage of Massachusetts bill S.2963, the 'Police Reform Act.
Private educational and medical institutions may also form their own law enforcement agencies to serve as security police, protecting their properties and personnel.
[18] In Arizona, privately owned colleges that offer bachelor's degrees, and have at least one dormitory, may employ a security police force.
These officers have full police powers on the property of the university and must meet all certification and training requirements as established by the state.
The law also indemnifies the state of any liability associated with 'acting or failing to act', and instead, places the financial responsibility on the respective college or university.
Private police in North Carolina must meet or exceed all training and certification requirements as any municipal, county or state law enforcement officer.
[20] In (Spring Valley HOA) Columbia, South Carolina, Private Officers respond to calls for service, run traffic radar, make arrests and use blue lights.
The use of private police, however, has particular appeal because property or business owners can directly contract for public safety services, thereby providing welcome relief for municipal budgets.
Examples of this phenomenon abound: book matches are given away with and without the sale of tobacco products; bathrooms, whether in restaurants or department stores or gas stations, are often open to customers and the general public alike.
[28]Some argue that a "dual system" of policing could be detrimental — one for the wealthy and one for the poor — and others see the provision of private security as the primary protective resource in contemporary America.
[35][36][37] There are documented instances where peace officers have engaged in moonlighting as private security without official approval from their primary employer.
Demand existed for nonroutine services, such as police checks of vacationers' homes, escorts for merchants making bank deposits, extra patrols at business closing times, and so on.
For example, the San Francisco Patrol Special Police originally began as an agency intended to protect merchant operations from outlaws in the mid-1800's but, as of 2023, had shrunk down to only a single officer.