‘The real private police’: franchising constables and the emergence of employer supported policing

This chapter focuses on the role of Employer Supported Policing (ESP), a pioneering initiative to put more ‘public’ policing actors on the streets by levering in ‘private’ sources of funding. The chapter draws on two case studies in the South of England to explore this scheme, the emergence of which is situated against the backdrop of a range of broad changes that have impacted on UK police and which coalesce around the themes of ‘fiscal constraint’ and ‘police privatisation’. It argues that, although there are risks that arise from the ESP scheme, it provides the prospect for expanding uniformed police presence without draining scarce public resources although certain principles must be maintained. Throughout, the chapter develops the theme of ‘franchising the police’, both in its historical context and through the lens of ESP. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the ESP scheme adds a new dimension to the police privatisation paradigm.