There are three main differences between Marshal Public Safety and public police officers besides the fact that one works for the private sector and the other works for the public sector and has the power of arrest.
1) Marshal Public Safety is generally proactive in preventing crime and public police are generally reactive in fighting crime.Though Marshal Public Safety and public police are both proactive and reactive in crime fighting, MPS is more proactive in preventing crime from taking place and also reacts in the instances a violation does take place. The public police are less proactive in preventing crime (to a specific individual) from taking place but more reactive when crimes does happen. We measure our success by preventing crime. Police measure their success by arrest and prosecution after a crime takes place.
2) Marshal Public Safety’s duties are to protect a specific person, property, or business (our clients). We are not responsible for the protection of society in general or those who have not contracted protection services with us. Public police however are responsible for the protection of society in general and are not responsible for the protection of any specific person, property, or business. Per Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App.1981) “it IS NOT the duty of the police to protect the individual citizen.”
Because MPS duties are to solely protect our clients, and the approach to the protection of our clients is proactive, this means MPS is usually on location as a visual deterrence to minimize the possibility of a crime from ever occurring. However, in the event that a crime does take place, MPS is usually the first responder because we are already on scene and by the authority invested from the client and the law, we can legally take action to stop a crime, minimize its damages, and detain any persons responsible for the public police for possible arrest.
3) Public police cannot enforce your business rules, policies, procedures, or become involved in civil disputes. Because MPS acts as a proxy to the owner or management of a property for security related issues, we can legally act in the interest of our clients (within the scope of agreement) and enforce not only federal/state laws and local ordinances within the boundary of our contracted properties, but we can also enforce any rules or policies of our clients. Public police cannot enforce your property rules or become involved in any civil issues (unless a law is violated) that may happen during the course of business.
