Comparison of strategic and operational good practice for private security personnel in the night-time economy and the Cairns City model

Abstract

Private security personnel are the guardians of patrons in the night-time economy (NTE). However, there is a disconcerting lack of research concerning issues for private security personnel specific to the NTE. Such issues include the duty of care, a risk management approach to staff and patron care, code of conduct, interactions with other service agencies, data and information sharing, incident reporting and functions and resource procedures for private security personnel. There is also little research concerning the ability of security personnel to contribute to reducing alcohol-related harm and injury in the NTE through strategic and operational good practices. To fill this gap, interviews and focus groups were carried out in order to document these strategic and operational practices. These were compared with available models in the literature. It was found that the Cairns City model exceeded recommended good practice, particularly through the industries involvement in a community crime prevention frame-work in the NTE.