‘They don’t do nothing’: Exploring marginalized people who use drugs’ experiences with and expectations of private security officers

Abstract

Private security guards are increasingly supplementing public police in the policing of urban parks. In the context of this expansion, little is known about how people who frequent and depend on access to these spaces, such as street-involved people who use drugs, view and experience private security. Drawing upon 30 interviews and ethnographic observations with unhoused, street-involved people who use drugs in a small Canadian city, findings show that participants held largely neutral views of security. Departing from common perceptions of marginalized people’s disdain towards the social control enacted by law enforcement actors, participants expected and wanted security officers to actively enhance everyone’s safety and well-being. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this for security’s legitimacy, and recommendations for improving how private security engage communities.