Public and private security have different functions and must follow performance criteria enforced in the regulations of each country. Private security must attend to needs framed within the private sphere, covering the needs of people and companies that are within their right to guarantee their goods, properties and businesses, among other aspects.

Collaboration between the two types of security is essential and is evident in the protection and control of the headquarters of both public and private organisations that require coordination with the country’s police. In Spain, this coordination is entrusted to the Central Private Security Unit at the General Commission for Citizen Security and, at the national level, to the State Secretariat at the Ministry of the Interior.

A virtual activity was held on collaboration between private security and the public security forces and bodies.

The objective of the activity was to make known to the 17 Latin American countries participating in the project, the best practices established in Spain in collaborative work between State security forces and bodies and the private sector to increase citizen security and to adapt protocols for action and collaboration against Covid-19.

More specifically, the Spanish experience regarding the Comprehensive Collaboration Plan between the Policía Nacional and private security (Red Azul Nacional), the “Protocol on Police Measures to be Adopted Against Attacks on Health Professionals”, and the “Action Plan to Combat Hate Crimes”, in the field of private security. Likewise, improvements were proposed such as the creation of Private Security Units in the state police and greater coordination through American and European cooperation networks.

EL PAcCTO:Support for Ameripol is a European Union-funded project managed by FIIAPP, which seeks to strengthen the international cooperation capacities of police forces and improve coordination with public prosecutor’s offices and the judiciary of partner countries to combat crime.