Afonso, J. J. R. (2015) A PRIVATIZAÇÃO DE FUNÇÕES DE SEGURANÇA PÚBLICA INTERNA: FUNÇÕES INALIENÁVEIS DO ESTADO DE DIREITO DEMOCRÁTICO E NOVO PARADIGMA DE DESCENTRALIZAÇÃO DO EXERCÍCIO DE PODERES DE POLÍCIA; Tese de Doutoramento – Universidade Autónoma Lisboa

In Portugal, the issue of the security of the communities has taken several paths and experienced various organisational models till the institutionalisation of the Police, in organic and formal sense.In Portugal, the issue of the security of the communities has taken several paths and experienced various organisational models till the institutionalisation of the Police, in organic and formal sense.
History shows that security (internal and external) is essential and inseparable from the juridical and political organisation of a State, set in fundamental foundations such as sovereignty, authority or the supremacy of public authorities. In an active democracy, the Police and the concept of public security redefine themselves in agreement with social consciousness, which is increasingly encouraged to participate in the production of security, as a value and constitutional right.The classical dichotomy between the public and private sectors was the driving force that enabled the development of public forms of police. With the fading of this dichotomy, police gains new outlines, yielding to the economic exploitation of security, which began in the private sphere but progressively it seems to dominate the public sphere. The growth of social security privatization requires rethinking the principles of subsidiarity and democratic participation of citizens in social life, obliging society to produce minimum security levels, through the carrying of self-protection measures. The complementarity (or cohesive relationship) between public and private security helps to rid police forces of certain tasks, so they can focus on core functions and skills: the field of crime prevention (in the strict sense), public order, intelligence, criminal investigation and international cooperation. Knowing in advance that it cannot increase the Police ad æternum, the State partially resigns its eminent dominant role in matters of security. The solution is to remove police forces’ duties, using the private security industry, and relying as far as possible on the principles of complementarity and subsidiarity in the pursuit of social security tasks.
However, the delegation of security functions or administrative police powers to private entities must be wary of the noxiousness of “profits mirage”. Like any business, the security market is intended to make profit. If you bestow the promotion of public security to private entities, they will not manage it but they will take it over and use it.
Keywords: Police; security; authority; privatisation