Private Policing in the USA

Read the text and insert suitable words from the box.

One name stands out in the history of private policing in the United States: Allan Pinkerton. In 1849 he became Chicago’s first detective. A year later he set himself up as a private detective, and thus started the private detective business in America. During the Civil War he served in the Union army as a major and set up its successful espionage system.

The 1950s and 1960s were years of civil unrest, increasing _____ , and the beginning of terrorism. This was fertile ground for the growth of the private security business. Public ________ was not able to keep up with the demand for protection. Voters were unwilling to increase police budgets. Private enterprises, even housing developments, had to provide for their own ________. Today there are nearly twice as many private security personnel as public police officers.

In the past, few skills were needed to do the work. The development of sophisticated ___________ requires technical and management skills. Executive protection requires intelligence, agility, training, and often language skills. Contract security agencies have vastly upgraded their recruitment and educational standards.

Yet much remains to be done to bring private security under public control and to improve the relationship between private and public security. The wages offered by private security entice many police officers to take the earliest possible _________ in order to enter the private sector. To the extent that the private sector benefits from the expensive training and experience of public police officers, the public sector loses. All _________ suggests that private policing will continue to grow, but not without problems.

III. Study the dialogue between an American and an overseas police officer.

Dialogue. Federal Bureau of Investigation

Ex. 1. Find English equivalents to the following:

министерство юстиции, вести расследования, следственный орган, прокурор округа в США, полицейское управление, судебный орган, подчиненный, согласие, периферийное отделение, штаб-квартира, министр юстиции в США.

Ex. 2. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word from the box.

On Monday 24th May, a thief broke into a house in Lapton Street and stole TV, audio and computer equipment worth 20,000 pounds. Two weeks later, Rob Burner, a self-employed electrician who lives a few streets away was arrested by the police and ______ into custody. Fingerprints taken at the scene of the crime matched those of Burner, who was ______ with burglary. Burner claimed that he was _______ . He had been at the house in Lapton Street doing some electrical repairs, that is why his fingerprints were there. However, Burner’s neighbours gave _______ against him saying that he had offered to sell them TVs, hi-fis and computer equipment in late May. Burner was therefore sent for _______ . He appeared in _______ last week. He _______ not guilty. The _______ took two days to reach a _______, but eventually found him guilty. Burner was ______ to three months in prison.

Ex. 3. Sum up the information you have learnt from the dialogue making use of the following.

Police department, to be controlled by, to be concerned with, investigative agency, to be responsible for, to report the results, the attorney general, judicial district, to be subordinate to, headquarters, field office, exchange of information, large staff, majority.