About the Industry

January 2006

Some private security firms are taking the low road, undermining efforts by security officers, building owners, and responsible security firms to improve standards in private security. Get the facts about the security industry, standards and enforcement, security companies, and security unions.

Security Numbers

$34 billion a year is spent on private security services in America. This figure is expected to more than double by 2011[i]
There are approximately 1.1 million private security officers in the United States.[ii] This is nearly double the number of American police officers.[iii]
Private security is one of the top 10 fastest growing occupations in the U.S. The industry is expected to add nearly 400,000 workers by the end of the decade[iv]
A recent report on the private security services industry in the U.S. estimates that employee turnover can be as high as 600 percent annually within the guarding industry.[v]

Standards and Enforcement

Despite the size of the private security industry in the U.S., there are no federal laws or regulations governing the industry.
State laws vary greatly with respect to standards and enforcement. Thirty-one states require no training for officers whatsoever. Alaska has the highest standards, requiring 48 hours total of pre- and post-hire training for each security officer, and 8 hours of continuing education and training each year.
In 21 states, private security workers do not have to be licensed, and criminal background checks are not required in 16 states.
In surveys conducted in California, Texas, and Florida, 70 percent of officers say their buildings never conduct bomb or natural disaster drills – and in June 2002, four in ten officers said their buildings hadn’t implemented new procedures to strengthen security since 9/11/01.[vi]

Security Companies

According to the government, there are 12,000 private security firms operating in the U.S.[vii] Nonetheless, the industry is dominated by a few large firms that include Securitas, Group 4 Securicor (Wackenhut), Guardsmark, Vance International Security Services and Initial Security.
The largest private security firm in the U.S., and the world, is Securitas, based in Sweden. Since 1998, Securitas has acquired Pinkerton, Burns and several other U.S. security firms and now employs 125,000 workers in the U.S. -- more than three times as many as any other security company.
In 2002, Securitas reported nearly $7.5 billion in sales globally, including more than $3.2 billion from their U.S. security services operations.
The second largest private security firm in the U.S. is Group 4 Securicor, a London-based company. In 2002, Group 4 purchased the U.S.-based Wackenhut Corporation and now employs approximately 40,000 security workers in the U.S.
When Group 4 purchased Wackenhut, it reported $2.8 billion in annual revenues.

Security Unions

In Europe, security officers are able to work with management and public officials to set higher standards for training, screening, oversight, and licensing because they are in unions. For example, almost all of the Securitas and Group 4 Securicor employees in their Scandinavian home countries are union members.
In Finland, Securitas worked with Finnish trade unions to set up the Finnish Guard Training Center. In Austria, both Securitas and Group 4 developed a basic training course and negotiated with their unions to have it inserted in the collective bargaining agreement.
Only 8 percent of private security officers in the U.S. are members of a union.
With more than 50,000 public and private security and safety officers, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is the largest security officers’ union in the U.S. SEIU represents private security officers in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Minneapolis.

[i] Private Security Services to 2006, Freedonia Group, April 2002.

[ii] The 2001 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states there are 995,000 security officers. This figure does not include proprietary or “in-house” security workers. We add another 10% to account for these workers in our estimate.

[iii] 2001 National Occupational and Wage Estimates.

[iv] The US BLS lists the occupation of security guard in the top 10 of occupations expected to have the largest job growth between 2000-2010.

[v] Private Security Services to 2006, Freedonia Group

[vi] From surveys conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates in CA, TX and FL. June 2002

[vii] 1997 Economic Census: Comparative Statistics for the United States, US Department of Census

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