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 Contents vii

Alarm Systems 76 Government Buildings and Facilities 123

Electronic Video Surveillance 79 Educational Facilities 123
Private Security Systems Convergence 83 Colleges 123
Secondary and Elementary Schools 124
CHAPTER 4 Museums, Libraries, and Archives 125
Private Security Law 88 Houses of Worship and Cemeteries 127
Law 89 Transportation Facilities 129
History of Law 90 Airports 129
Types of Law 91 Bus and Train Stations 133
The U.S. Legal System 91 Ports, Cargo Depots, and Trucks 134
Evidence 93 Parking Lots and Garages 135
The Private Justice System 93 Subways 136
The Legal Powers of Private Security 94
Arrest 95 CHAPTER 6
Search and Seizure 98 Business Security 139
Use of Force 100 Stores and Other Businesses 140
Legal Liability of Private Security 100 Retail Stores 140
Civil Liability 100 Convenience Stores 140
Criminal Liability 104 Fast-Food Restaurants 141
Liability Problems Involving Use of Police Shopping Centers and Malls 142
Officers as Security Officers 104
Industrial Facilities, Factories, and
Courtroom Testimony and Private Security Warehouses 145
Officers 106 Office Buildings 146
Preparation 106 Public and Private Utilities 147
Appearance and Demeanor 106 Hotels and Motels 149
Testimony 107 Banks 150
Entertainment Facilities 152
PA R T I I
Sporting Arenas and Ballparks 152
Private Security Categories Movies, Theaters, and Clubs 155
Pools and Beaches 156
CHAPTER 5 Amusement Parks 157
Premises Security 113 Cruise Ships 157
Casinos 158
Property and Premises Crime 114
The Police, Private Security, and Property
Crime 115 CHAPTER 7
Residential Locations 118 Retail Security and Loss
Neighborhoods 118 Prevention 160
Private Residences 119 The Retail Shrinkage Problem 161
Public Housing Developments 120 Internal Shrinkage 165
Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities 120 External Shrinkage 165
Laboratories 122 Organized Retail Crime 168
viii Contents

Reducing the Shrinkage Problem 169 CHAPTER 9

Management policy 169 Employment-Related
CPTED (Crime Prevention through Security 233
Environmental Design) 172
Need for Employment-Related Security 237
Audits 172
Background Investigations 240
Store Detectives/Loss Prevention
Specialists 173 Pre-Employment Background Screening 243
Peer Reporting 179 Other Background Investigations 251
Loss Prevention Technology 179 Employment-Related Drug Testing or
Drug Screening 254
Current Technology 179
Sexual Harrassment in the Workplace 260
Emerging Technology 182
Employee Monitoring 262
Academic and Professional Research
in Loss Prevention 184 Monitoring Phone Calls 265
Monitoring Computer Use 265
Employee-Misconduct Investigations 265
CHAPTER 8
Personal Security 191
CHAPTER 10
Personal Security in the United States 192
Information and Computer
Private Security Efforts for Personal
Security 193
Security 270
Antiterrorism Efforts 193 The Computer Crime Problem in Business
and Society 272
Executive Protection 194
Cybercrime and Cyber Problems 274
Bodyguards or Personal Protection
Specialists 199 Fraud 275
Identity Theft 277
Security While Living or Traveling Abroad 202
Cyberterrorism 280
Danger Abroad 202
Web Attacks 281
Assessing and Addressing Travel Risk
Abroad 203 Computer Hacking 281
Cyberstalking 282
Self-Protection Efforts 204
Computer Use by Pedophiles 284
Personal Alarms and Panic Devices 204
Computer Viruses 287
Cell Phones 207
Spam 289
Protective Vests and Other Garments 207
Spyware 290
Personal Self-Defense Training 208
Software Piracy 290
Protective Vehicles 208
Data Security 291
Special Issues Regarding Personal Safety 210
How Organizations Maintain Computer
Kidnapping 210 Security 293
Human Trafficking 212 Systems Control 293
Workplace Violence 213 Encryption 295
Domestic Violence and the Workplace 217 Computer-Use Monitoring 295
Stalking 219 CERT or CIRT Teams 296
School Shootings and School Violence 222 Early Warning Systems 296
Violence against Taxi Drivers 229 Biometrics for Computer Access 297

Investigating Computer Crime 297
The Basic Investigation 298
Specialized Technical Techniques 299
Proactive Investigative Techniques 301
Electronic Surveillance and
Interception 302
Services Provided by Major Investigative
Firms 303
PA R T I I I
Private Security Operations
CHAPTER 11
Investigative Security 306
Major Forms of Private-Sector
Investigations 307
Proprietary Security Investigations 308
Contract Security Investigations 309
Independent Private Investigations 310
Overview of Private-Sector Investigations
Major Types of Private-Sector Noncriminal
Investigations 314
Financial Investigations 314
Product Liability 315
Finding People/Missing Persons 315
Personal Injury 316
Wrongful Death 316
Medical Malpractice 316
Domestic/Marital 316
Miscellaneous Investigations and
Services 316
Major Types of Private-Sector Criminal
Investigations 317
Violent and Property Crimes 318
Corporate Crime 318
Internal Theft 319
Fraud, Including Business and Credit-Card
Fraud and Counterfeiting 319
Insurance Fraud, Including Worker’s
Compensation and Medical and Healthcare
Fraud 322
Industrial Espionage 325
Information Resources for Private-Sector
Investigators 328
Contents ix
CHAPTER 12
Surveillance and Undercover
Operations 333
Definition and Purposes of Surveillance 334
Preparation for the Surveillance 335
The Surveillance 337
The Stationary Surveillance 337
The Moving Surveillance 338
What If the Tail Is Made? 339
Common Mistakes in Maintaining
Surveillances 339
Testing a Tail 339
Surveillance Requires Practice 340
Recording the Surveillance 340
Written Notes 340
Photographs 340
Video 340
Debriefing the Surveillance 340
Technological Surveillance Devices 341
311 Listening, Recording, and Viewing
Devices 342
Surveillance Vans 342
Vehicle Tracking Systems 342
Night-Vision Devices 343
Surveillance Aircraft 343
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) 344
Definition and Purposes of Undercover
Operations 344
Types of Undercover Operations 345
Criminal and Noncriminal Private Security
Investigations 345
Shopping Services and Mystery Shoppers 345
Silent Witness Programs 346
Internal Intelligence Programs 346
The Undercover Operation 346
The Undercover Operator 347
Preparation for the Undercover
Operation 347
Tactics for the Undercover Operation 348
Advice from Experts 349
Communicating with Supervisors 350
Recording the Undercover Operation 350
Danger in the Undercover Operation and Illegal
Activity 350
x Contents

CHAPTER 13 Government Efforts for Homeland

Security 387
Private and Public Partnerships
Department of Homeland Security
for Security 354 (DHS) 387
Need for Cooperation 355 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 388
Privatization 357 The Local Level 389
Private and Public Partnerships 358 Private Security Efforts for Homeland
Local, State, and Federal Law Enforcement Security 390
Partnerships 359 Importance of the Private Security Industry for
Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) 365 Homeland Security 390
Bail Enforcement Agents 367 Private Security Industry Operations for
Homeland Security 396
Private and Public Partnerships against
Terrorism 368 Department of Homeland Security and
Private Security Cooperation for Homeland
Police Officers Working for Private Security
Security 399
Providers (Moonlighting) 372
Private Security Firms and the U.S. Military
Private Security Officers Working for
Abroad 400
Government Agencies 373
Community Crime-Prevention Programs 375 Glossary 405
Self-Policing 375
Notes 412
Citizen Patrols 375
Neighborhood Watch 376 Bibliography 444
Crime Stoppers 377
Citizen Volunteers 378 Index 453

CHAPTER 14
Homeland Security 381
Homeland Security 382
Terrorism 385
Preface
Introduction to Private Security, 2nd Edition is a basic
introductory text for college students who are in-
terested in learning about the U.S. private security
industry, what it does, and how it is done. This
book is designed to give readers a general over-
view of the important role private security plays in
our society while also sensitizing them to the com-
plexities and ambiguities of modern private secu-
rity. It focuses on practical, real-world concepts
and applications and includes detailed coverage of
everything from industry background and related
law to premises, retail, business, employment, and
information/computer security as well as investi-
gation, surveillance, and even homeland security.
Throughout, a special emphasis is placed on ethics
and professionalism in the industry and the need
for public law enforcement and private security to
work together to solve common problems.
Introduction to Private Security, 2nd Edition also
introduces readers to the jobs available in the se-
curity field—what they are, how one goes about
getting them, what skills are needed, and what the
day-to-day responsibilities are for each career. In
addition, I try to give readers an idea, a sense, and
a flavor of security. I want students to get a clear
look at the private security industry, not only for
their academic interest, but more importantly, also
to help them determine if private security employ-
ment is right for them. After all, is that not what
much of college should be about—making an in-
telligent, well-informed career choice, as well as
learning about life?
Organization
Introduction to Private Security, 2nd Edition is
divided into three parts. Part I, Private Security
History, Business, and Concepts, includes chapters
on the History and Professionalization of Private
Security; the Business of the Private Security
Industry; Private Security Concepts, Tools, and
Systems Convergence; and Private Security Law.
Part II, Private Security Categories, includes
chapters on Premises Security, Business Security,
Retail Security and Loss Prevention, Personal
Security, Employment-Related Security, and
Information and Computer Security. Part III,
Private Security Operations, includes chapters on
Investigative Security, Surveillance and Under-
cover Operations, Private and Public Partnerships
for Security, and Homeland Security.
Changes to the Second
Edition
In response to reviewer feedback, this edition pro-
vides the latest in academic and practitioner re-
search, as well as the latest statistical information,
court cases, and careers that are shaping the future
of the private security industry. Other enhance-
ments to the second edition include:
● “Ethics in Security” boxes featured in virtually
every chapter to further enhance the book’s
real-world orientation by spotlighting codes of
ethics and related materials from ASIS, NASCO,
TSA, NAPPS, and other national agencies, or-
ganizations, and corporations that students will
likely interact or affiliate with on the job.
● Dramatic expansion of physical security with
the addition of a brand-new second chapter
that covers retail and convenience stores, fast
food restaurants, shopping centers, industrial
facilities, public/private utilities, hotels, banks,
and entertainment facilities.
● Detailed discussion of the field’s latest techno-
logical advances—biometrics and surveillance,
cyberstalking, fingerprinting and electronic
monitoring, fraud, cybercrime, computer
viruses, and data security.
● Increased coverage of employment-related se-
curity, including pre-employment background
investigations, drug testing, and employer
xi
xii Preface
monitoring of employees’ phone calls and use
of the Internet.
● Increased attention to the demands of home-
land security, including the Mumbai, India,
attack; the latest Department of Homeland
Security reorganization; critical infrastructure
and key resources sectors; the latest private
sector initiatives for homeland security; and
the latest on private security firms and the
U.S. military abroad.
Pedagogical Features
Within each chapter, I have included the following
pedagogical elements:
● Key Terms emphasize key concepts to be
learned in the chapter. The Running Glossary
defines these terms immediately next to where
each term is introduced, and an end-of-book
Glossary collects all of the terms into one group
for reference.
● Chapter Objectives serve as chapter “road maps”
to orient students to each chapter’s main learn-
ing outcomes.
● Each Chapter Introduction previews the material
to be covered in the chapter.
● The Chapter Summary reinforces the major top-
ics discussed in the chapter and helps students
check their learning.
● Learning Checks are questions that test the stu-
dent’s knowledge of the material presented in
the chapter.
● Application Exercises are projects that require
students to apply their knowledge to hypo-
thetical situations much like those they might
encounter in actual private security positions.
They can be assigned as final written or oral
exercises or serve as the basis of lively class
debates.
● Web Exercises ask the student to research pri-
vate security topics on the Internet.
Boxed Features
In an effort to increase student interest, I have
included several types of boxed features in each
chapter to supplement the main text:
● You Are There! features take the student back
to the past to review the fact pattern in a par-
ticular court case or to learn the details about a
significant event or series of events in history.
They are intended to give the students a sense of
actually being at the scene of a significant event.
● Jobs in Security boxes include samples of actual
employment positions in the private security
industry.
● Private Security Connections give examples of
professional organizations, associations, and
resources that offer students the opportunity
to do further research and gain employment.
● Exhibits include statistics, helpful hints, facts,
and other key information necessary to under-
stand the subject.
Supplements
The following supplements are provided to assist
instructors in the preparation and execution of
their courses and to assist students in absorbing
the material. Supplements are available to quali-
fied adopters. Please consult your local sales rep-
resentative for details.
● Instructor’s Resource Manual with Test Bank The
manual includes learning objectives, key terms,
a detailed chapter outline, a chapter summary,
discussion topics, and a test bank. Each chap-
ter’s test bank contains questions in multiple-
choice, true-false, fill-in-the-blank, and essay
formats, with a full answer key. The test bank
is coded to the learning objectives that appear
in the main text, and includes the page num-
bers in the main text where the answers can be
found.
● ExamView® Computerized Testing The compre-
hensive instructor’s manual described above
is backed up by ExamView, a computerized
test bank available for PC and Macintosh
computers. With ExamView you can create,
deliver, and customize tests and study guides
(both print and online) in minutes. You can
easily edit and import your own questions and
graphics, change test layouts, and reorganize
questions. And using ExamView’s complete
word-processing capabilities, you can enter
an unlimited number of new questions or edit
existing questions.
● eBank Microsoft PowerPoint Slides These handy
Microsoft PowerPoint slides, which outline the
chapters of the main text in a classroom-ready
presentation, will help you in making your lec-
tures engaging and in reaching your visually

oriented students. The presentations are avail-
able for download on the password-protected
website and can also be obtained by e-mailing
your local Cengage Learning representative.
Criminal Justice Media Library
This engaging resource provides students with
more than three hundred ways to investigate cur-
rent topics, career choices, and critical concepts.
Careers in Criminal Justice Website
Available bundled with this text at no additional
charge. Featuring plenty of self-exploration and
profiling activities, the interactive Careers in Crim-
inal Justice Website helps students investigate and
focus on the criminal justice career choices that are
right for them. Includes interest assessment, video
testimonials from career professionals, resume
and interview tips, and links for reference.
CL eBook
CL eBook allows students to access Cengage
Learning textbooks in an easy-to-use online
format. Highlight, take notes, bookmark, search
your text, and, in some titles, link directly into
multimedia: CL eBook combines the best aspects
of paper books and ebooks in one package.
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments
I would like to sincerely thank outstanding
senior acquisitions editor Carolyn Henderson-
Meier for her faith, patience, and constant
assistance in this project. Also, I applaud the
intelligent and excellent copyediting of David
Coen and the super production efforts of
Pre-Press PMG.
I also thank the reviewers of this text who
provided outstanding and detailed feedback,
including:
Michael Summers, Erie Community College
Jerome Randall, University of Central Florida
Guytano Farnan, Virginia Career Institute
Keith Bell, Marshall University
Wendie Albert, Keiser University
Kenneth Bergstrom, Florida State University
Mark Shrout, University of Northwest Florida
A special note of appreciation to Michael
Pittaro for his gracious assistance in the manu-
script production. I will be forever indebted to
Michael and Cengage’s exemplary editorial and
production team for their graciousness and help.
Without their support and enthusiasm, this book
would not have been completed.
Jack Dempsey
 CHAPTER 1
The History and
Professionalization
of Private Security
OUTLINE
Early Development of Private
Security
Private Security in Ancient Rome
Private Security in England
Private Security in the United States
The Colonial Experience
The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
The Twentieth Century and the New
Millennium
Professionalization of Private
Security
College Education and Private
Security
Ethics and Private Security
Ethical Conduct of Security Firms and
Their Employees
Ethical Issues Endemic to the Security ©Private Collection / Peter Newark American Pictures / The Bridgeman Art Library
Industry

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• To acquaint you with the rich, colorful history of private security
in Rome and England
• To explore the history of private security in the United States
• To familiarize you with the relatively recent movement to achieve
professionalism in the private security industry
• To explore college programs in private security
• To acquaint you with current ethical standards in the private
security industry

1
2 PA R T I Private Security History, Business, and Concepts
Introduction
The swiftness, scale, sophistication, and coordination
of the terrorist operations on September 11, 2001,
coupled with the extraordinary planning required,
made most people realize that terrorism and mass mur-
der had come to the United States. Many law enforce-
ment officers, emergency response personnel, private
security employees, and ordinary citizens will never be
the same; 9/11 had indeed changed their world. These
terrorist attacks jolted Americans out of their sense of
complacency, and perhaps lethargy, and made them
realize that their sense of security was lost forever.
The word security comes from the Latin word
securus (a compound adjective formed from the prefix
se- [without] and cura [care] and came into English as
“without care,” “free from care,” “free from danger,”
or “safe”).1 The events of 9/11 prompted Americans
to turn to security professionals for new ways to
help them remain safe and deal with our changed
world. The security industry in the United States con-
sists of publicly funded local, state, and federal law
enforcement agencies, as well as private security or-
ganizations. This book is about the work of those or-
ganizations that make up the private security industry.
The federal government–sponsored task force on
private security defined the private security industry
as “Those self-employed individuals and privately
funded business entities and organizations providing se-
curity-related services to specific clientele for a fee, for
the individual or entity that retains or employs them, or
for themselves, in order to protect their persons, private
property, or interests from various hazards.”2
In other words, private security services are provided
by private, not public, funds. The private security field is
much different from the public security field. Today, when
a citizen needs help, he or she can generally call 911 and
Early Development
of Private Security
We do not know much about the early history of
policing—maintaining order and dealing with
lawbreakers—except that it was always a private
private security industry The industry that provides
private and corporate security programs to the United
States.
receive some type of official police response. The respon-
dent could be a city, village, town, county, state, or even
tribal police officer. Moreover, in some communities, po-
lice response may even be a function of a private security
agency operating under the auspices of the local govern-
ment. Formal, organized, public police departments are
relatively new in history. What happened when a citizen
needed help in the times before the formation of public
police departments? To whom did he or she turn? How
did our ancestors protect themselves and their property
from the criminals in their midst?
Most of what has been written about the his-
tory of law enforcement and the measures society
has taken to protect itself from crime and disorder
has centered on the police. However, long before the
establishment of formal police departments, private
citizens established methods to protect themselves
against crime and disorder. Over the centuries, these
methods have progressed from such primitive activities
as hiding in caves or walling off entire towns and cities
for protection to contemporary activities, which em-
ploy sophisticated operational methods that frequently
include division of labor, tools of management, and
state-of-the-art technology.
This chapter will discuss the history of private se-
curity from early times to today, concentrating on the
early development of private security; ancient Rome,
early England, and the United States in colonial times;
the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries;
and the new millennium. It will also discuss the
emergence of professionalism in the private security
industry, including the role of college education in
that professionalization. Additionally, it will include a
discussion of current ethical standards and dilemmas
common to the industry.
matter. Citizens were deemed responsible for pro-
tecting themselves and maintaining an orderly
society. Despite numerous efforts to organize secu-
rity and safety, modern-style police departments,
as we know them today, did not appear until the
nineteenth century in England.
As far back as prerecorded history, nomadic
tribes banded together and used guards and se-
curity methods to protect themselves and their
families and the livestock that they relied on from
wild beasts and raiding enemies. As author Mil-
ton Lipson tells us, the first security guard may
 CHAPTER 1
have been the nomadic shepherd: “Private secu-
rity originated in that clouded time when man be-
gan to domesticate animals and graze his herds.
To safeguard these from both human and animal
marauders and to keep them from wandering,
one or more of the clan would act as a guardian, a
security guard—a shepherd. In time, he was joined
by a dog who acted as his valued assistant. The
march of the centuries has not materially changed
one of the earliest methods of security.”3
Researchers also point to other early forms of
maintaining peace and security: “The history of
humankind can be seen as a series of attempts to
provide for safety, security, and freedom from fear
and danger. Humans have developed weapons,
built barriers around dwellings, and devised codes
of conduct to protect property and welfare.”4
And as security writer Harvey Burstein has writ-
ten, “The idea that people have a right to protect
their property, whether real or personal, has existed
since time immemorial. The exercise of this right
long predates the notion that government help for
that purpose might be forthcoming in the form of a
public police or law enforcement agency.”5
Private Security
in Ancient Rome
We know very little about policing, public or pri-
vate, in the ancient world. However, we do know
that public law enforcement was largely ineffec-
tive and limited formal governmental mecha-
nisms for law enforcement. For the most part,
security and protection were confined to military
forces and the individual citizen. Ancient Rome,
perhaps, can give us the best example of early se-
curity initiatives in the ancient world.
Scholars often compare the crime problem
in ancient Rome to the crime problem on the
American frontier, where there was no formal
criminal justice system in place and therefore no
effective law enforcement. Violence was com-
mon in Roman life, much of it inspired by poli-
tics. (Consider, for example, the assassination of
Julius Caesar by Republican nobles on March 15
[the Ides of March], 44 BCE). Courts and assem-
blies were frequently disrupted by rogue mobs.
Wealthy people hired bands of retainers—slaves
and gladiators—to defend themselves and their
property. The famous orator Cicero, for example,
The History and Professionalization of Private Security 3
JOBS IN SECURITY
Reference Book for Jobs
in Security
Note: “Jobs in Security” boxes are a special feature
of this textbook and will be found throughout the
book. They contain examples of a diverse selection
of jobs or job-seeking information pertaining to the
chapter subject, advertised prior to the publication
of the book. Students can access similar types of
jobs online.
A good reference book for jobs in private
security, as well as other jobs in criminal justice
areas, is Careers in Criminal Justice and Related
Fields: From Internship to Promotion, 6th ed.,
by Scott Harr and Kären M. Hess (Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth, 2009).
Many other resources are available via the Web.
is reported to have had three hundred thugs
under hire in 61 BCE, mostly to intimidate his
political opponents.6 The Roman satirist Juvenal
(40 CE–120 CE) offers the following vivid de-
scription of what it was like to walk the streets
of Rome in his time: “Only a fool would go out to
dinner without having made his will.”7
Throughout their history, the Romans and
Greeks created some formal organized groups that
served as early attempts at maintaining safety and
security. Around the sixth century BCE in Athens
and the third century BCE in Rome, citizens took
the law into their own hands by arresting offend-
ers and punishing them, but unpaid magistrates
(judges) appointed by the citizens were respon-
sible for presiding over cases. In most societies,
people in towns would group together and form a
watch, particularly at night, at the town borders or
gates to ensure that strangers, particularly those
deemed to be enemies, did not attack the town.8
In the fifth century BCE, Rome created the first
specialized investigative unit, called questors, or
“trackers of murder.”9
questors Investigative units created in fifth-century
Rome.
4 PA R T I Private Security History, Business, and Concepts

How did Roman citizens, with no viable and E X H I B I T 1 .1 Ancient Roman Security Guards
effective urban police patrol, protect their lives
and property against criminals? Martin A. Kelly • Buildings
tells us, “Roman civilians accepted the roles of Janitor Security guard at entrance to
quasi-policemen. Rough and ready and with a buildings
sense of civic responsibility, they often made citi- • Stores
zen arrests when a crime was committed. In addi- Peritates Security guard at stores
tion, they served in local civilian patrols and joined • Homes
fraternal protective associations. The Romans also Cancellarius Security guard at gate to master’s
assigned their slaves to a variety of security and quarters
body-guarding tasks, and they enlisted animals, Cubicolarius Security guard in front of master’s
bedroom while he slept
particularly dogs and geese, as protectors.”10
Historians, scholars, and other researchers • On the street
Satellites Inner protective group surrounding
have discovered that the Romans may have been
guarded person
responsible for creating the prototypes of some of
Nomenclator Walked next to guarded person
our modern physical security devices to protect
and announced those who
homes and businesses. These ancient Roman pro- approached
totypes led to the development of modern-day se- Stipatores Walked alongside satellites,
cure entrance doors, the Bard locking device, and running interference
the padlock. Vanguards Preceded satellites (also known as
The Romans also used humans, primarily ante ambulones)
slaves, to protect their buildings. For instance, the Pedisequire Walked behind and followed the
security guard at the entrance to a Roman build- satellites
ing was known as the “janitor,” or servant of the Lanternari Carried torches at night to light the
Roman god Janus, who protected entrances. The way through the streets
janitor was usually a eunuch slave (castrated male
slave) who was chained to the building’s doorway. SOURCE: Martin A. Kelly, “Citizen Survival in Ancient Rome,” Police Studies
(Winter 1988), pp. 77–82, 175–180.
He controlled access to the entrance with the aid of
a large watchdog. The Romans also used geese as
watch animals, a primitive forerunner of our cur- of silence, from their ceilings as reminders. The
rent security alarm systems. The geese, with their expression “sub rosa” (beneath the roses) in our
acute sense of smell, aggressiveness, and loud modern language usage means “what is said here,
honking noise, were effective in keeping intrud- remains here.”
ers away and alerting residents to the presence of
intruders. Wealthy and influential Romans used
a large group of personal guards when they were
traveling on the streets, similar to the large pro-
tective groups used today in presidential or other Private Security
dignitary protective details. (Exhibit 1.1 provides
the Latin names for some of these guards and the
in England
duties they engaged in.) The American system of law and security was bor-
Given the political chaos and corruption in rowed from the English. This section will discuss
Rome, many citizens feared the government and security in early English history, thief-takers, the
their representatives. For example, mere criti- Bow Street Runners, and Peel’s police—the Metro-
cism of the government was a punishable offense. politan Police for London.
Individuals caught criticizing the government The European feudal system provided a high
would likely be punished by the confiscation of level of security for individuals and society. Un-
their estate and banishment from Rome. Upon der the feudal contract, the lord provided for the
conviction of a defendant, the informer could safety of individuals and property and supplied
collect one quarter of the confiscated estate. To arms and treasures to vassals who governed the
reinforce the need to communicate in silence and work of the serfs bound to the land.11
to be watchful of informers, many Roman house- In early England, law enforcement was per-
holders hung baskets of roses, the classical symbol ceived to be the duty of all citizens, even though
 CHAPTER 1 The History and Professionalization of Private Security 5

The thief-taker system was later extended to

cover offenses other than highway robbery, and
soon a sliding scale of rewards was established.
Arresting a burglar or a footpad (street robber), for
example, was worth the same as catching a high-
wayman, but catching a sheep stealer or a deserter
from the army brought a much smaller reward. In
some areas, homeowners joined together and of-
fered supplementary rewards for the apprehen-
sion of a highwayman or footpad in their area. In
addition, during serious crime waves, Parliament
awarded special rewards for thief-takers to arrest
particular felons.
In many instances, a criminal would agree to

©Mary Evans Picture Library / The Image Works

become a thief-taker in order to receive a pardon
from the king for his or her own crimes. Thus,
many thief-takers were themselves criminals.
Thief-taking was not always rewarding because
the thief-taker would not be paid unless the crimi-
nal was convicted. The job also could be danger-
ous because the thief-taker had to fear retaliation
from the criminal and his or her relatives and asso-
ciates. Many thief-takers would entice young peo-
ple into committing crimes and then have another
thief-taker arrest the youths during or soon after
committing the crime. The two thief-takers would
then split the financial reward. Some thief-takers
were known to frame innocent parties by planting
stolen goods on their persons or in their homes.
Many thief-takers were themselves criminals. The system
Although some real criminals were apprehended
generally created more crime then it suppressed.
by the professional thief-takers, the system gener-
ally created more crime than it suppressed.
One of the most notorious of the thief-takers
some officials were charged with enforcing the law of the early 1700s in England was Jonathan Wild.
and keeping the peace. Before formal police de- Wild was well known among the criminal element
partments, individuals called thief-takers served in London as a brothel operator and the first great
as a type of private police force in sixteenth-, English criminal mastermind. He conceived the
seventeenth-, and eighteenth-century France and idea of charging a fee for locating and returning
England. These thief-takers were private citizens stolen property to its lawful owners. As his private
with no official status who were paid by the king thief-taker business prospered, he also began to ap-
for every criminal they arrested—similar to the prehend criminals wanted by the government. Wild
bounty hunters of the American West. The major was totally unscrupulous. Upon learning of a theft,
role of the thief-takers was to combat highway he would attempt to persuade the thieves to give
robbery committed by highwaymen, such as the him the stolen goods in exchange for a portion of
legendary outlaws Robin Hood and Little John. By the money paid by the victim for the return of the
the seventeenth century, highwaymen made travel- property. Wild was incredibly successful at detect-
ing through the English countryside so danger- ing criminals and was personally responsible for
ous that no coach or traveler was safe. In l693, an the arrest and subsequent execution of hundreds of
Act of Parliament established a monetary reward
for the capture of any highwayman. A thief-taker
was paid upon the conviction of the highwayman thief-takers Individuals who served as a form of private
and also received the highwayman’s horse, arms, police in sixteenth-, seventeenth-, and eighteenth-century
money, and property. France and England.
6 PA R T I Private Security History, Business, and Concepts
felons. In the end, he was found guilty of stealing
the very property he returned to the grateful own-
ers, crimes that brought about his own execution.
On May 24, 1725, as he was being taken to the gal-
lows, thousands of people jeered, showering him
with stones and dirt. He was hanged before a cheer-
ing throng of spectators estimated at more than five
thousand. However, after his death, Wild became a
folk hero. His body was disinterred and his skull
and skeleton exhibited publicly as late as 1860.
Henry Fielding, the eighteenth-century novel-
ist best known for writing Tom Jones, is also cred-
ited with laying the foundation for the first modern
private investigative agency. In 1748, during the
heyday of English highwaymen, Fielding was ap-
pointed magistrate in Westminster, a city near cen-
tral London. He moved into a house on Bow Street,
which subsequently became his office. Fielding,
together with his half-brother Sir John Fielding, in
an attempt to decrease the high number of burglar-
ies, street and highway robberies, and other thefts
in the neighborhood, established relationships with
local pawnbrokers. They provided them with lists
and descriptions of recently stolen property and
asked them to notify them should such property
be brought into their pawnshops. They then placed
the following ad in the London and Westminster
newspapers: “All persons who shall for the future
suffer by robber, burglars, etc., are desired immedi-
ately to bring or send the best description they can
of such robbers, etc., with the time and place and
circumstances of the fact, to Henry Fielding Esq.,
at his house in Bow Street.”12
The Fieldings’ actions brought about what we
can refer to as the first official crime reports. They
were able to gain the cooperation of the high con-
stable of Holborn, an area of central London, and
several other public-spirited constables. Together
they formed a small investigative unit that they
named the Bow Street Runners. These were pri-
vate citizens who were not paid by public funds
but rather permitted to accept thief-taker rewards.
Eventually, the Fieldings’ efforts were rewarded
by the government, and their Bow Street Runners
were publicly financed. In 1763, John Fielding was
asked to establish, with public funds, a civilian
horse patrol of eight men to combat robbers and
footpads on the London streets. The patrol proved
Bow Street Runners Private investigative unit formed
by Henry and John Fielding in mid-1700s in England.
a success but was disbanded after only nine months
due to a lack of government support.
During the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries, businesses and industries
in England became actively involved in private po-
licing. One business, Crowley’s Iron Works, prepared
the Law Book of Crowley’s Iron Works, which resembled
an entire civil and penal code, to govern and regu-
late its employees. In rural areas, wealthy landown-
ers paid gamekeepers to protect their property, while
in small towns middle-class tradesmen formed vol-
untary protection societies to assist each other with
crime control.13
With the ever-increasing urbanization and
industrialization of London, rampant crime on
the streets gave rise to considerable debate over
whether to form a professional police department.
Although there was certainly enough crime to jus-
tify forming a civil police force, most people did
not want a formal, professional police department
for two major reasons. For one, many citizens felt
a police force would threaten their tradition of
freedom. Additionally, the English had consider-
able faith in the merits of private enterprise, and
they disliked spending public money. Individual
merchants hired men to guard their property;
merchant associations also created a merchant po-
lice to guard shops and warehouses. Night watch-
men were employed to make rounds, and agents
were hired to recover stolen property. Residents of
the various parishes into which the major cities of
England were divided hired parochial police. In
addition, it was common practice for private citi-
zens to carry arms for protection.
In 1828, after much public debate, Sir Robert
Peel, England’s Home Secretary, drafted the first
police bill, the Act for Improving the Police in and
near the Metropolis (The Metropolitan Police Act).
Parliament passed it in 1829. This act established
the first large-scale, uniformed, organized, paid
civil police force in London. Over a thousand men
were hired. Although a civil force, as opposed to
a military force, it was structured along military
lines, with officers wearing distinctive uniforms.
The Economist paints a vivid picture of this his-
toric change from relying on private security to re-
lying on publicly provided law enforcement in an
attempt to deal with rising crime and disorder:
[The new law] swept away the assorted gangs
of parish constables, inquiry agents, soldiers,
and roughnecks who gave the streets of
 CHAPTER 1
London what little order they then enjoyed
and set up the Metropolitan Police. Since
then, London’s “Bobbies” . . . have provided a
model—in theory if not always in practice—
of how to maintain public order. The British
police form a blue-uniformed professional
body created by the government, paid for
from taxes and responsible to elected bodies.
They are public servants.14
However, it must be mentioned that despite the
creation of publicly funded police, private guards
and private police continued to be used to recover
stolen property and to provide protection for pri-
vate persons and businesses.
Private Security
in the United States
The U.S. system of policing, both public and pri-
vate, was patterned after the English system. This
section will cover the history of attempts in the
United States to control crime and disorder. It will
discuss the colonial experience, the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, the twentieth century, and
the first years of the new millennium.
The Colonial Experience
The American colonists did not have an easy life.
They were constantly at risk from foreign enemies,
their brother and sister colonists, and hostile Native
Americans. They had no protection but themselves
and, at times, the military or militia. By the seven-
teenth century, the colonies started to institute a civil
law enforcement system that closely replicated the
early English model. At the time, the county sheriff
was the most important law enforcement official in
the county. However, in addition to enforcing the
law, he collected taxes, supervised elections, and had
much to do with the legal process. Sheriffs were not
paid a salary but, much like the English thief-takers,
were paid fees for each arrest they made. Sheriffs did
not patrol but stayed in their offices.
In cities, the town marshal was the chief law
enforcement official, aided by constables (called
schouts in the Dutch settlements) and night watch-
men. The night-watch routine was sometimes
The History and Professionalization of Private Security 7
performed by the military. The city of Boston cre-
ated the first colonial night watch in 1631 and
three years later created the position of constable.
In 1658, eight paid watchmen replaced a patrol of
citizen volunteers in the Dutch city of Nieuw Am-
sterdam. This police system was inherited by the
British in 1664 when they took over the city and
renamed it New York. By the mid-1700s, the New
York night watch was described as “a parcel of idle,
drinking, vigilant snorers, who never quell’d any
nocturnal tumult in their lives; but would perhaps,
be as ready to joining in a burglary as any thief in
Christendom.”15
When serious breaches of the peace occurred,
including riots or slave revolts, the governors
called on the colonial militia or the British army.
Many cities, including Port Pontchartrain (Detroit),
New Orleans, and Fort Washington (Cincinnati),
were under martial law for much of their early
existence.
Despite the presence of law enforcement of-
ficials in the colonies, law enforcement was still
mainly the responsibility of the individual citizen,
as it had been in early England. There was little law
and order on the colonial frontier. When immedi-
ate action was needed, the frontier people took
matters into their own hands. This led to an Amer-
ican tradition of vigilantism. In the rural southern
colonies, law enforcement primarily consisted of
slave patrols, armed civilians who worked with
the local county courts and the militia to enforce
slave laws.
The Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Centuries
Historically, American policing attempted to con-
trol crime and disorder in both urban and frontier
environments. Although the urban and frontier
experience differed in many ways, both could be
classified as brutal and corrupt.16 It was during
this period of American history that organized
and professional private security organizations
began to have a positive impact on crime and
disorder.
In America’s urban experience, the first orga-
nized, paid, public police department was created
in Boston in 1838, followed by New York City in
1845 and Philadelphia in 1854. By the outbreak of
the Civil War, Chicago, New Orleans, Cincinnati,
8 PA R T I Private Security History, Business, and Concepts
Baltimore, Newark, and a number of other large
cities had their own police departments. As a re-
sult, constables and sheriffs were relieved of much
of their patrol and investigative duties.
Despite the creation of these public police de-
partments, policing in the United States in the
nineteenth century did not approach the profes-
sionalism of Peel’s London police. In his 1991
book, Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York,
Luc Sante says, “
The history of the New York police is not a
particularly illustrious one, at least in the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as
throughout the period the law enforcement
agents of the city continually and recurrently
demonstrated corruption, complacency, confu-
sion, sloth and brutality.”17
Local urban police were overwhelmed and
could not provide important services, such as the
detection and recovery of stolen goods. In Chicago,
business owners created the private Merchant’s
Police, which protected stores that subscribed to
its services by paying a fee of fifty cents a week.
Although life in America’s cities was difficult,
life on the frontier was grueling. Early settlers
faced tremendous problems from the weather,
the terrain, hostile Native Americans, and the
criminals within their own ranks. Formal law
enforcement on the frontier was rare. What little
law enforcement existed in the old West consisted
mainly of the locally elected county sheriff and the
appointed town marshal, and also sometimes the
U.S. marshal, the U.S. Army, or the state militia.
On the frontier, private police were much more
effective than public law enforcement. Although
they often acted in the same manner as the Eng-
lish thief-takers, taking a percentage of the stolen
property they recovered, America’s private police
were much more professional and honest than
those found in early England.
The modern U.S. private security indus-
try owes much of its origins to Allan Pinkerton.
Pinkerton was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1819,
and immigrated to the United States. He worked
Pinkerton National Detective Agency Private detec-
tive agency established by Allan Pinkerton in the 1850s.
Pinkerton Protective Patrol Agency established by
Allan Pinkerton in 1857 to provide watchman services
for businesses and private individuals.
for a short time as a deputy sheriff in Cook County,
Illinois, and was then appointed the first detec-
tive of the Chicago Police Department in 1849.
In 1850, he was appointed as a special U.S. mail
agent in Chicago investigating mail thefts. In the
early 1850s, he opened his own private detective
agency, the North-Western Police Agency, in part-
nership with Chicago attorney Edward Rucker,
who left the partnership after a year. The agency
was then renamed the Pinkerton National Detec-
tive Agency. Its trademark was an open eye, with
the slogan, “The Eye That Never Sleeps”; this led
to the common use of the expression “private eye”
as a reference to private investigators. The agency
was an immediate success.
In addition to working with the local po-
lice, the Pinkertons were hired by railroad
corporations to patrol their trains and set up
security systems. Pinkerton pioneered nu-
merous investigative techniques, such as
shadowing or suspect surveillance and under-
cover operations. Among Allan Pinkerton’s
other major accomplishments were establishing
the practice of handwriting examination in U.S.
courts and proposing a plan to centralize crimi-
nal identification records. Pinkerton built a com-
prehensive file of pictures and facts on criminals
that was a major source of criminal information
prior to the twentieth century. He also advanced
the cause of international police cooperation by
sharing information with Scotland Yard and the
French Sûreté.
His agency was the first to hire a female detec-
tive, Kate Warne, in 1856. He established a code
of ethics for his employees and made sure they
kept it. He prohibited his employees from accept-
ing gratuities or rewards and removed politics
from his operations. In 1857, Pinkerton formed the
Pinkerton Protective Patrol to provide watchmen
services for businesses and private individuals.
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Pinkerton
offered his services to the federal government and
was assigned the task of protecting President Abra-
ham Lincoln. He is credited with detecting and
preventing at least one assassination plot. In addi-
tion to protecting Lincoln, he operated a secret es-
pionage unit that gathered military intelligence for
the Army of the Potomac. Pinkerton and his men,
who included fugitive slaves, gathered information
on Southern spies and slipped behind Confederate
lines to learn their military plans. He personally
made several undercover missions under the alias
 CHAPTER 1
You Are There!
Allan Pinkerton Saves President-Elect Abraham Lincoln
Note: “You Are There!” boxes are special features of
this textbook that take the reader back to the past to
learn the details about a significant event or series of
events in history. They are intended to give readers a
sense of actually being present at the event or events.
Allan Pinkerton, the founder of the Pinkerton
Detective Agency, is credited with saving the life of
Abraham Lincoln, president-elect of the United States.
As Pinkerton was investigating threats against a
railroad, he uncovered information regarding a con-
spiracy to assassinate Lincoln as he traveled through
Maryland during his procession to Washington to
take his presidential oath. Pinkerton foiled the plot by
arranging for Lincoln to travel through Baltimore in
disguise—as an invalid in a shawl. Pinkerton’s opera-
tives cut telegraph wires on the route and detained re-
porters until the president-elect reached Washington.
Lincoln arrived safely in Washington, DC, and took
of Major E. J. Allen. On one occasion, he posed as
a Confederate supporter and was given a personal
tour of enemy lines by a top-ranking officer.
After the war, the agency again concentrated
on railroad robberies and security and “rode shot-
gun” on stagecoaches in the West. By the 1880s,
Pinkerton’s firm had offices in nearly two dozen
cities. Pinkerton’s customers included the United
States Department of Justice, various railroad
companies, wealthy eastern bankers, and major
land speculators. Some people considered the
Pinkerton Detective Agency an official arm of the
federal government. It is interesting to note that
the government still uses private security agencies
for protection; see Chapter 2 of this text.
In 1884, Allan Pinkerton died, and the manage-
ment of the agency was taken over by his sons,
Robert and William. The agency continued its suc-
cess in arresting train robbers and notorious gang-
sters, such as members of the James Gang and
Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy) and Harry
Longbaugh (the Sundance Kid) of the Wild Bunch
gang. The agency also arrested John and Simeon
Reno, who organized the nation’s first band of
professional bank robbers. The Pinkertons, as they
were called, were also hired in the East by min-
ing and manufacturing companies to suppress
The History and Professionalization of Private Security 9
the oath of office, becoming president of the United
States.
Pinkerton had an earlier relationship with Lincoln.
When he founded his detective agency, he provided secu-
rity services to the Illinois Central Railroad. Together with
the railroad’s vice president, George McClellan, he con-
sulted with the railroad’s lawyer, Abraham Lincoln. Later,
McClellan, one of Lincoln’s Union generals and eventu-
ally chief of all Union forces, hired Pinkerton to head his
intelligence branch. Operating under the pseudonym
E. J. Allen, Pinkerton’s operatives provided valuable infor-
mation from behind enemy lines. Pinkerton himself con-
ducted intelligence missions behind enemy lines.
SOURCES: Edwin C. Fishel, The Secret War for the Union: The Untold
Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War (New York: Houghton
Mifflin, 1996); and J. Anthony Lukas, Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small
Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America (New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1997).
labor organizations such as the Molly Maguires in
1874 and 1875. (The Molly Maguires were a secret
society of Irish coal miners credited with massive
violence against coal companies in eastern Penn-
sylvania. The Pinkertons infiltrated the organiza-
tion and had many of the Mollies arrested and
some hanged.) Between 1866 and 1892, the Pinker-
ton Protective Patrol participated in seventy labor
disputes and opposed over 125,000 strikers. The
Pinkertons were despised by labor leaders. They
employed informants throughout the United
States and its territories, and they offered cash re-
wards for information.
In competition with the Pinkerton agency dur-
ing the latter part of the nineteenth century was the
Rocky Mountain Detective Association, which pur-
sued and apprehended bank and train robbers, cattle
thieves, murderers, and the road agents who plun-
dered highways and mining communities through-
out the Southwest and the Rocky Mountains.
Another competitor was Wells, FargoIn 1850,
Henry Wells and William Fargo formed the Ameri-
can Express Company, which transported bank
documents from Buffalo, New York, to New York
City. In 1852, they expanded into California to
transport valuables, including gold, under the
name of Wells, Fargo & Company. By the end of
10 PA R T I Private Security History, Business, and Concepts
the 1850s, the company was using the railroads
to transport valuables, and it operated as a mail-
carrying service and stagecoach line out of more
than a hundred offices in the western mining dis-
tricts. Because they carried millions of dollars in
gold and other valuable cargo, they found it neces-
sary to create their own guard company to protect
their shipments. The Wells-Fargo private security
employees were effective in preventing robberies
and thefts. Moreover, criminals who were able to
hold up their banks and carriers were relentlessly
hunted down by specially trained and equipped
agents.
In 1865, Railway Police Acts were established
in many states to give the railroad industry the
right to establish a proprietary security force. The
new railway police were given full police powers
to protect company equipment, including rolling
stock and property, and to protect railways against
attacks by hostile Native Americans and organized
bands of train robbers. The Railroad Special Agent
also protected against rail-station robbers, pick-
pockets, and con men. Thousands of patrol officers
and detectives were hired by the railroads. By the
early l900s, some fourteen thousand railroad police
were employed as investigators and patrol officers.
As industrialization continued, companies
began to use in-house and contractual private
security forces to protect company assets and to
perform strikebreaking activities. The use of pri-
vate security agents as strikebreakers led to bloody
confrontations between labor and management.
Generally, the private security forces were success-
ful in breaking strikes, but in 1892 the tide changed.
Three hundred heavily armed agents from the
Pinkerton Protective Patrol were defeated by strik-
ers they tried to evict from the Carnegie Steelworks
in Homestead, Pennsylvania. During these tumul-
tuous times, Congress began investigations of pri-
vate security firms, and many states throughout
America passed laws prohibiting armed mercenar-
ies from entering their borders. In addition, many
large companies in the shipping, iron, and steel in-
dustries established private security forces to pro-
tect property and maintain order in their company
towns and factories. As most official law enforce-
ment consisted of local police departments who had
limited geographical jurisdiction, the major private
Railway Police Acts Laws established in many states
in the nineteenth century giving the railroad industry
the right to establish a proprietary security force.
investigation firms such as Pinkerton provided ef-
fective law enforcement and investigative services
beyond these local political boundaries.
The post–Civil War years and westward expan-
sion saw tremendous lawlessness associated with
the gold-mining industry and cattle theft. Citizens
formed vigilante groups to rid their territories of
undesirables and criminals, and struggles ensued
between these vigilantes and outlaw gangs. In the
1880s, the Wyoming Cattle Growers Association
created a private detective organization, the Asso-
ciation Detectives, to fight cattle rustling. In New
Mexico, groups of armed men formed to protect
individual cattle herds. In Texas, cattlemen hired
the Home Rangers, who were paid by local ranch-
ers and had official status granted by the gover-
nor to shoot on sight any unauthorized stranger
on ranch property. In addition, in urban areas in
the East, merchants began to form associations
to help themselves deal with common problems.
One of the first of these common assistance alli-
ances was the Jewelers Security Alliance, created
in New York in 1883 to alert jewelers and law en-
forcement about jewelry-related crime.
The middle of the nineteenth century saw the
advances of modern technology and business im-
provements in the private security industry. In the
early 1850s, Edwin Holmes invented the first elec-
tric burglar alarm system using a bell that rang if
a door or window were opened. He began to sell
this alarm system to wealthy New Yorkers. In
1858, he established the first central-station bur-
glar alarm company, the Holmes Protection Com-
pany. Holmes’s electronic burglar alarm predated
the electric light and telephone by about twenty-
five years. By 1880, he had offices in Boston, New
York, and Philadelphia.
©SuperStock / Getty Images
Brink’s introduced the armored car to carry money and
valuables.
 CHAPTER 1
You Are There!
The Strike at the Carnegie Steelworks of Homestead, Pennsylvania
The Pinkerton Detective Agency provided its Protective
Patrol’s “watchmen” to protect management’s inter-
ests in labor unrest and strikes at plants, mines, and
railroads. The patrol members were dressed in military
uniforms and trained in military discipline and weap-
onry. During the late l890s, the Pinkertons intervened
in approximately seventy strikes, often with violent
consequences. An event in l892, however, changed
the Pinkerton policy of intervening in industry strikes.
In July 1892, at the Carnegie Steelworks in Home-
stead, Pennsylvania, a labor dispute between man-
agement and the workers union, the Amalgamated
Association of Iron and Steel Workers, led the com-
pany to close the plant and lock out thirty-eight hun-
dred workers. After the strikers seized and occupied
the plant, management hired three hundred Pinkerton
watchmen to take it back. On July 6, the watchmen ar-
rived at the plant on two barges on the Monongahela
River and were confronted by thousands of strikers and
their supporters on the bank of the river. As the Pinker-
tons and the workers engaged, a twelve-hour rifle
and artillery battle ensued, leaving seven strikers and
In 1859, Washington Perry Brink formed
Brink’s Inc., a freight and package delivery service
in Chicago. In 1891, Brink’s carried its first payroll
for the Western Electric Company, and by 1900, it
had a fleet of eighty-five wagons transporting ma-
terials, including payrolls and valuable goods. In
1917, after two of its employees were killed in a
robbery holdup, Brink’s introduced the armored
car to carry money and valuables. By 1956, Brink’s
had become the world’s largest armored-car com-
pany. In 1983, it began making high-quality moni-
tored alarm systems for homeowners. During its
long history, Brink’s has been called on to protect
some of the world’s most valued treasures, includ-
ing the baseball bat with which Hank Aaron broke
Babe Ruth’s lifetime home-run record, the first
rock samples brought home from the moon by the
astronauts, the diamond ring that actor Richard
Burton gave to actress Elizabeth Taylor, the U.S.
Declaration of Independence, and the world’s
largest uncut diamond.18
In the late 1800s, the telegraph, invented by
Samuel F. B. Morse, became a dominant medium
of communication. In 1874, fifty-seven diverse
The History and Professionalization of Private Security 11
three Pinkertons dead and dozens injured. The Pinker-
tons were forced to surrender, and many of them were
badly beaten by the workers.
In the wake of the defeat of the Pinkertons, the
Pennsylvania governor dispatched eighty-five hundred
troops from the State National Guard to Homestead.
The guardsmen secured the plant, and Homestead was
placed under martial law. By mid-August it was back in
full operation, employing seventeen hundred replace-
ment workers (scabs). By mid-November, the union
conceded and three hundred of the locked-out work-
ers were rehired at slashed wages.
The negative publicity that followed the Home-
stead action led to U.S. congressional hearings and
many state laws prohibiting armed mercenaries from
entering state boundaries. In response, the Pinkerton
Agency discontinued its practice of supplying men for
intervention in labor disputes.
SOURCE: J. Anthony Lukas, Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western
Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America (New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1997), pp. 82–83.
telegraph-delivery companies merged to create
the American District Telegraph Company (ADT),
the forerunner of one of today’s leading alarm
companies—ADI. In the 1890s, with the advent of
call boxes and multisignal electric protection sys-
tems, ADT became a preeminent security protec-
tion company. The multisignal call boxes allowed
watchmen at businesses to do more than just sig-
nal for police or fire department assistance—they
could now send a specific signal to the ADT office
at designated times to let the central monitoring
office know that all was well. If a watchman did
not transmit his scheduled signal, help was dis-
patched. In the first quarter of the twentieth cen-
tury, ADT became synonymous with emergency
call systems and burglar, holdup, and fire alarm
systems.
Studying the rise of private security during
the nineteenth century, the National Advisory
Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and
Goals, in its Private Security Task Force Report, at-
tributed the rise to three main factors: (1) ineffec-
tive public police protection; (2) increased crimes
against the expanding railroads; and (3) increased
12 PA R T I Private Security History, Business, and Concepts
industrialization, which was accompanied by
mounting conflict between factory owners and
their workers.
See Exhibit 1.2 for highlights of nineteenth-
century developments in private security.
The Twentieth Century
and the New Millennium
The beginning of the twentieth century saw the
continuation of the growing need for security
services due to the rapidly increasing industrial-
ization of America and the need to address labor
and management problems. Plants and factories
continued to create in-house, proprietary security
forces and to hire outside contract security firms to
protect company goods and property and to deal
with union disturbances.19
The business and technological advances of the
nineteenth century continued into the twentieth
century. In 1909, William J. Burns, a former U.S.
Secret Service investigator and the former direc-
tor of the Bureau of Investigation (the forerunner
of the FBI), started the William J. Burns Detective
Agency. It has been said that no other detective in
E X H I B I T 1 . 2 Nineteenth-Century Highlights
in U.S. Private Security
• 1850—Henry Wells and William Fargo form the
American Express Company to transport goods east of
the Missouri River. In 1852, they expand west as Wells,
Fargo and Company.
• 1855—Allan Pinkerton starts the Pinkerton Detective
Agency to provide contract protection services for the
railroads as they expand westward.
• 1857—Pinkerton starts the Pinkerton Protection Patrol
to provide contract watchmen for businesses.
• 1858—Edwin Holmes establishes the first burglar alarm
company—the Holmes Protection Company.
• 1859—Washington Perry Brink forms Brink’s Inc. as
a freight and package delivery service in Chicago.
In 1891, Brink’s carries its first payroll for Western
Electric Company and by 1900 has a fleet of eighty-five
wagons transporting materials, including payrolls and
valuable goods.
• 1865—Railway Police Acts were established in many
states.
• 1874—The American District Telegraph Company
(ADT) offers central burglar alarm services.
• 1883—Jewelers formed the Jewelers Security Alliance
for protection against burglary.
American history was more successful or better
known than Burns, who was called “the greatest
detective the U.S. has ever produced” and “Amer-
ica’s Sherlock Holmes.”20 After years of bringing
counterfeiters to justice, Burns gained extensive
national renown by his work in the prosecution of
public land frauds in California and Oregon and
investigating corrupt civic leaders in San Fran-
cisco. His agency became the major investigating
agency for the American Bankers Association and
grew to become the second-largest (after Pinker-
ton) contract guard and investigative service in the
United States. Burns was a public hero for many
years, except among labor union leaders who dis-
liked his efforts for management in strikebreaking
and the infiltration of unions.
During the 1930s, U.S. industries continued to
emphasize factory and plant security in the face of
growing crime. They also continued to use private
security firms to combat labor unrest and strik-
ers and to infiltrate unions. As the result of a 1937
congressional inquiry into labor-management un-
rest, Pinkerton’s eliminated the use of undercover
work involving labor unions. Actions by con-
tract security services during strikes in the auto-
mobile industry in the middle 1930s also proved
controversial.
A vast expansion of private security began in the
years prior to and during World War II, as U.S. busi-
nesses became the principal supplier of material and
goods to Britain and France in support of their war
efforts. In 1941, as the United States entered World
War II, President Roosevelt issued an executive or-
der giving the Secretary of War the authority to
establish military guards, patrols, and other appro-
priate measures to protect national defense–related
industries and premises from sabotage. In addition,
federal guidelines enacted by government agen-
cies, including those contained in the Department
of Defense’s Industrial Security Manual, were put
into contracts given to private-sector contractors for
manufacturing and producing goods. Because these
requirements were mandatory, those who wanted
to be awarded government contracts were obligated
to institute security programs and to designate a
security officer who would be responsible for the
programs’ implementation and maintenance. These
programs were the impetus behind the large propri-
etary, or in-house, security departments that we see
in industry today. These new regulations required
contractors to employ comprehensive security mea-
sures to protect materials necessary for the war
effort from sabotage and espionage.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
toutes les richesses végétales du pays, depuis les palmiers des îles
jusqu’aux saxifrages du cap Sunium. J’ai passé là de bonnes
journées au milieu des plantations de M. Bareaud. Le jardin n’est
public qu’à certaines heures ; mais je parlais grec aux sentinelles, et
pour l’amour du grec on me laissait entrer. M. Bareaud ne s’ennuyait
pas avec moi ; il me promenait partout pour le plaisir de parler
botanique et de parler français. En son absence, j’allais chercher un
grand jardinier maigre, aux cheveux écarlates, et je le questionnais
en allemand ; il est bon d’être polyglotte.
J’herborisais tous les jours un peu dans la campagne, mais
jamais aussi loin que je l’aurais voulu : les brigands campaient
autour d’Athènes. Je ne suis pas poltron, et la suite de ce récit vous
le prouvera, mais je tiens à la vie. C’est un présent que j’ai reçu de
mes parents ; je veux le conserver le plus longtemps possible, en
souvenir de mon père et de ma mère. Au mois d’avril 1856, il était
dangereux de sortir de la ville ; il y avait même de l’imprudence à y
demeurer. Je ne m’aventurais pas sur le versant du Lycabète sans
penser à cette pauvre Mme X… qui y fut dévalisée en plein midi. Les
collines de Daphné me rappelaient la captivité de deux officiers
français. Sur la route du Pirée, je songeais involontairement à cette
bande de voleurs qui se promenait en six fiacres comme une noce,
et qui fusillait les passants à travers les portières. Le chemin du
Pentélique me rappelait l’arrestation de la duchesse de Plaisance ou
l’histoire toute récente de Harris et de Lobster. Ils revenaient de la
promenade sur deux chevaux persans appartenant à Harris : ils
tombent dans une embuscade. Deux brigands, le pistolet au poing,
les arrêtent au milieu d’un pont. Ils regardent autour d’eux et voient à
leurs pieds, dans le ravin, une douzaine de coquins armés jusqu’aux
dents qui gardaient cinquante ou soixante prisonniers. Tout ce qui
avait passé par là depuis le lever du soleil avait été dépouillé, puis
garrotté, pour que personne ne courût donner l’alarme. Harris était
sans armes comme son neveu. Il lui dit en anglais : « Jetons notre
argent ; on ne se fait pas tuer pour vingt dollars. » Les brigands
ramassent les écus sans quitter la bride des chevaux ; puis ils
montrent le ravin et font signe qu’il y faut descendre. Pour le coup,
Harris perd patience : il lui répugne d’être lié ; il n’est pas du bois
dont on fait les fagots. Il jette un regard au petit Lobster, et au même
instant, deux coups de poing parallèles s’abattent comme deux
boulets rames sur la tête des deux brigands. L’adversaire de William
roule à la renverse en déchargeant son pistolet ; celui de Harris,
lancé plus rudement, passe par-dessus le parapet et va tomber au
milieu de ses camarades. Harris et Lobster étaient déjà loin,
éventrant leurs montures à coup d’éperons. La bande se lève
comme un seul homme et fait feu de toutes ses armes. Les chevaux
sont tués, les cavaliers se dégagent, jouent des jambes et viennent
avertir la gendarmerie, qui se mit en route le surlendemain de bon
matin.
Notre excellent Christodule apprit avec un vrai chagrin la mort
des deux chevaux ; mais il ne trouva pas une parole de blâme pour
les meurtriers. « Que voulez-vous ? disait-il avec une charmante
bonhomie : c’est leur état. » Tous les Grecs sont un peu de l’avis de
notre hôte. Ce n’est pas que les brigands épargnent leurs
compatriotes et réservent leurs rigueurs pour les étrangers ; mais un
Grec dépouillé par ses frères se dit, avec une certaine résignation,
que son argent ne sort pas de la famille. La population se voit piller
par les brigands comme une femme du peuple se sent battre par
son mari, en admirant comme il frappe bien. Les moralistes
indigènes se plaignent de tous les excès commis dans la campagne
comme un père déplore les fredaines de son fils. On le gronde tout
haut, on l’aime tout bas ; on serait bien fâché qu’il ressemblât au fils
du voisin, qui n’a jamais fait parler de lui.
C’est un fait tellement vrai, qu’à l’époque de mon arrivée le héros
d’Athènes était précisément le fléau de l’Attique. Dans les salons et
dans les cafés, chez les barbiers où se réunit le petit peuple, chez
les pharmaciens où s’assemble la bourgeoisie, dans les rues
bourbeuses du bazar, au carrefour poudreux de la Belle-Grèce, au
théâtre, à la musique du dimanche et sur la route de Patissia, on ne
parlait que du grand Hadgi-Stavros, on ne jurait que par Hadgi-
Stavros ; Hadgi-Stavros l’invincible, Hadgi-Stavros effroi des
gendarmes ; Hadgi-Stavros le roi des montagnes ! On aurait pu faire
(Dieu me pardonne !) les litanies d’Hadgi-Stavros.
Un dimanche que John Harris dînait avec nous, c’était peu de
temps après son aventure, je mis le bon Christodule sur le chapitre
d’Hadgi-Stavros. Notre hôte l’avait beaucoup fréquenté autrefois,
pendant la guerre de l’indépendance, dans un temps où le
brigandage était moins discuté qu’aujourd’hui.
Il vida son verre de vin de Santorin, lustra sa moustache grise et
commença un long récit entrecoupé de quelques soupirs. Il nous
apprit que Stavros était le fils d’un papas ou prêtre de l’île de Tino. Il
naquit Dieu sait en quelle année : les Grecs du bon temps ne
connaissent pas leur âge, car les registres de l’état civil sont une
invention de la décadence. Son père, qui le destinait à l’Église, lui fit
apprendre à lire. Vers l’âge de vingt ans, il fit le voyage de Jérusalem
et ajouta à son nom le titre de Hadgi, qui veut dire pèlerin. Hadgi-
Stavros, en rentrant au pays, fut pris par un pirate. Le vainqueur lui
trouva des dispositions, et de prisonnier le fit matelot. C’est ainsi qu’il
commença à guerroyer contre les navires turcs, et généralement
contre tous ceux qui n’avaient pas de canons à bord. Au bout de
quelques années de service, il s’ennuya de travailler pour les autres
et résolut de s’établir à son compte. Il n’avait ni bateau, ni argent
pour en acheter un ; force lui fut d’exercer la piraterie à terre. Le
soulèvement des Grecs contre la Turquie lui permit de pêcher en
eau trouble. Il ne sut jamais bien exactement s’il était brigand ou
insurgé, ni s’il commandait à des voleurs ou à des partisans. Sa
haine pour les Turcs ne l’aveuglait pas à ce point qu’il passât près
d’un village grec sans le voir et le fouiller. Tout argent lui était bon,
qu’il vînt des amis ou des ennemis, du vol simple ou du glorieux
pillage. Une si sage impartialité augmenta rapidement sa fortune.
Les bergers accoururent sous son drapeau, lorsqu’on sut qu’il y avait
gros à gagner avec lui : sa réputation lui fit une armée. Les
puissances protectrices de l’insurrection eurent connaissance de ses
exploits, mais non de ses économies ; en ce temps-là on voyait tout
en beau. Lord Byron lui dédia une ode, les poètes et les rhéteurs de
Paris le comparèrent à Épaminondas et même à ce pauvre Aristide.
On broda pour lui des drapeaux au faubourg Saint-Germain ; on lui
envoya des subsides. Il reçut de l’argent de France, il en reçut
d’Angleterre et de Russie ; je ne voudrais pas jurer qu’il n’en a
jamais reçu de Turquie : c’était un vrai pallicare ! A la fin de la guerre,
il se vit assiégé, avec les autres chefs, dans l’Acropole d’Athènes. Il
logeait aux Propylées, entre Margaritis et Lygandas, et chacun d’eux
gardait ses trésors au chevet de son lit. Par une belle nuit d’été, le
toit tomba si adroitement qu’il écrasa tout le monde, excepté Hadgi-
Stavros, qui fumait son narghilé au grand air. Il recueillit l’héritage de
ses compagnons, et chacun pensa qu’il l’avait bien gagné. Mais un
malheur qu’il ne prévoyait pas vint arrêter le cours de ses succès : la
paix se fit. Hadgi-Stavros, retiré à la campagne avec son argent,
assistait à un étrange spectacle. Les puissances qui avaient mis la
Grèce en liberté essayaient de fonder un royaume. Des mots
malsonnants venaient bourdonner autour des oreilles velues du
vieux pallicare ; on parlait de gouvernement, d’armée, d’ordre public.
On le fit bien rire en lui annonçant que ses propriétés étaient
comprises dans une sous-préfecture. Mais lorsque l’employé du fisc
se présenta chez lui pour toucher les impôts de l’année, il devint
sérieux. Il jeta le percepteur à la porte, non sans l’avoir soulagé de
tout l’argent qu’il avait sur lui. La justice lui chercha querelle : il reprit
le chemin des montagnes. Aussi bien, il s’ennuyait dans sa maison.
Il comprenait jusqu’à un certain point qu’on eût un toit, mais à
condition de dormir dessus.
Ses anciens compagnons d’armes étaient dispersés par tout le
royaume. L’État leur avait donné des terres ; ils les cultivaient en
rechignant, et mangeaient du bout des dents le pain amer du travail.
Lorsqu’ils apprirent que le chef était brouillé avec la loi, ils vendirent
leurs champs et coururent le rejoindre. Quant à lui, il se contenta
d’affermer ses biens : il a des qualités d’administrateur.
La paix et l’oisiveté l’avaient rendu malade. L’air des montagnes
le ragaillardit si bien, qu’en 1840 il songea au mariage. Il avait
assurément passé la cinquantaine, mais les hommes de cette
trempe n’ont rien à démêler avec la vieillesse ; la mort même y
regarde à deux fois avant de les entreprendre. Il épousa une riche
héritière, d’une des meilleures familles de Laconie, et devint ainsi
l’allié des plus grands personnages du royaume. Sa femme le suivit
partout, lui donna une fille, prit les fièvres et mourut. Il éleva son
enfant lui-même, avec des soins presque maternels. Lorsqu’il faisait
sauter la petite sur ses genoux, les brigands ses compagnons lui
disaient en riant : « Il ne te manque que du lait. »
L’amour paternel donna un nouveau ressort à son esprit. Pour
amasser à sa fille une dot royale, il étudia la question d’argent, sur
laquelle il avait eu des idées trop primitives. Au lieu d’entasser ses
écus dans des coffres, il les plaça. Il apprit les tours et les détours de
la spéculation ; il suivit le cours des fonds publics en Grèce et à
l’étranger. On prétend même que, frappé des avantages de la
commandite, il eut l’idée de mettre le brigandage en actions. Il a fait
plusieurs voyages en Europe, sous la conduite d’un Grec de
Marseille qui lui servait d’interprète. Pendant son séjour en
Angleterre, il assista à une élection dans je ne sais quel bourg pourri
du Yorkshire : ce beau spectacle lui inspira des réflexions profondes
sur le gouvernement constitutionnel et ses profits. Il revint décidé à
exploiter les institutions de sa patrie et à s’en faire un revenu. Il brûla
bon nombre de villages pour le service de l’opposition ; il en détruisit
quelques autres dans l’intérêt du parti conservateur. Lorsqu’on
voulait renverser un ministère, on n’avait qu’à s’adresser à lui : il
prouvait par des arguments irréfutables que la police était mal faite
et qu’on n’obtiendrait un peu de sécurité qu’en changeant le cabinet.
Mais en revanche il donna de rudes leçons aux ennemis de l’ordre
en les punissant par où ils avaient péché. Ses talents politiques se
firent si bien connaître, que tous les partis le tenaient en haute
estime. Ses conseils en matière d’élection étaient presque toujours
suivis ; si bien que, contrairement au principe du gouvernement
représentatif, qui veut qu’un seul député exprime la volonté de
plusieurs hommes, il était représenté, lui seul, par une trentaine de
députés. Un ministre intelligent, le célèbre Rhalettis, s’avisa qu’un
homme qui touchait si souvent aux ressorts du gouvernement finirait
peut-être par déranger la machine. Il entreprit de lui lier les mains
par un fil d’or. Il lui donna rendez-vous à Carvati, entre l’Hymette et
le Pentélique, dans la maison de campagne d’un consul étranger.
Hadgi-Stavros y vint, sans escorte et sans armes. Le ministre et le
brigand, qui se connaissaient de longue date, déjeunèrent ensemble
comme deux vieux amis. Au dessert, Rhalettis lui offrit amnistie
pleine et entière pour lui et les siens, un brevet de général de
division, le titre de sénateur et dix mille hectares de forêts en toute
propriété. Le pallicare hésita quelque temps, et finit par répondre
non. « J’aurais peut-être accepté il y a vingt ans, dit-il, mais
aujourd’hui je suis trop vieux. Je ne peux pas, à mon âge, changer
ma manière de vivre. La poussière d’Athènes ne me vaut rien ; je
dormirais au sénat, et si tu me donnais des soldats à commander, je
serais capable de décharger mes pistolets sur leurs uniformes, par
la force de l’habitude. Retourne donc à tes affaires et laisse-moi
vaquer aux miennes. »
Rhalettis ne se tint pas pour battu. Il essaya d’éclairer le brigand
sur l’infamie du métier qu’il exerçait. Hadgi-Stavros se mit à rire et lui
dit avec une aimable cordialité :
« Compère ! le jour où nous écrirons nos péchés, lequel de nous
deux aura la liste la plus longue ?
— Songe enfin, ajouta le ministre, que tu ne saurais échapper à
ta destinée : tu mourras un jour ou l’autre de mort violente.
— Allah Kerim ! répondit-il en turc. Ni toi ni moi n’avons lu dans
les étoiles. Mais j’ai du moins un avantage : c’est que mes ennemis
portent un uniforme et je les reconnais de loin. Tu ne peux pas en
dire autant des tiens. Adieu, frère. »
Six mois après, le ministre mourut assassiné par ses ennemis
politiques ; le brigand vit encore.
Notre hôte ne nous raconta pas tous les exploits de son héros :
la journée n’y aurait pas suffi. Il se contenta d’énumérer les plus
remarquables. Je ne crois pas qu’en aucun pays les émules
d’Hadgi-Stavros aient jamais rien fait de plus artistique que
l’arrestation du Niebuhr. C’est un vapeur du Lloyd autrichien que le
pallicare a dévalisé à terre, sur les onze heures du matin. Le Niebuhr
venait de Constantinople : il déposa sa cargaison et ses passagers à
Calamaki, à l’orient de l’isthme de Corinthe. Quatre fourgons et deux
omnibus prirent les passagers et les marchandises pour les
transporter de l’autre côté de l’isthme, au petit port de Loutraki, où
un autre bateau les attendait. Il attendit longtemps. Hadgi-Stavros,
en plein jour, sur une belle route, en pays plat et déboisé, enleva les
marchandises, les bagages, l’argent des voyageurs et les munitions
des gendarmes qui escortaient le convoi. « Ce fut une journée de
deux cent cinquante mille francs ! » nous dit Christodule avec une
nuance d’envie.
On a beaucoup parlé des cruautés d’Hadgi-Stavros. Son ami
Christodule nous prouva qu’il ne faisait pas le mal par plaisir. C’est
un homme sobre et qui ne s’enivre de rien, pas même de sang. S’il
lui arrive de chauffer un peu trop fort les pieds d’un riche paysan,
c’est pour savoir où le ladre a caché ses écus. En général il traite
avec douceur les prisonniers dont il espère une rançon. Dans l’été
de 1854, il descendit un soir avec sa bande chez un gros marchand
de l’île d’Eubée, M. Voïdi. Il trouva la famille assemblée, plus un
vieux juge au tribunal de Chalcis, qui faisait sa partie de cartes avec
le maître de la maison. Hadgi-Stavros offrit au magistrat de lui jouer
sa liberté : il perdit et s’exécuta de bonne grâce. Il emmena M. Voïdi,
sa fille et son fils : il laissa la femme, pour qu’elle pût s’occuper de la
rançon. Le jour de l’enlèvement, le marchand avait la goutte, sa fille
avait la fièvre, le petit garçon était pâle et boursouflé. Ils revinrent
deux mois après tous guéris par l’exercice, le grand air et les bons
traitements. Toute une famille recouvra la santé pour cinquante mille
francs : était-ce payé trop cher ?
« Je confesse, ajouta Christodule, que notre ami est sans pitié
pour les mauvais payeurs. Lorsqu’une rançon n’est pas soldée à
l’échéance, il tue ses prisonniers avec une exactitude commerciale :
c’est sa façon de protester les billets. Quelle que soit mon admiration
pour lui et l’amitié qui unit nos deux familles, je ne lui ai pas encore
pardonné le meurtre des deux petites filles de Mistra. C’étaient deux
jumelles de quatorze ans, jolies comme deux petites statues de
marbre, fiancées à des jeunes gens de Léondari. Elles se
ressemblaient si exactement, qu’en les voyant ensemble on croyait y
voir double et l’on se frottait les yeux. Un matin, elles allaient vendre
des cocons à la filature ; elles portaient ensemble un grand panier, et
elles couraient légèrement sur la route comme deux colombes
attelées au même char. Hadgi-Stavros les emmena dans la
montagne et écrivit à leur mère qu’il les rendrait pour dix mille francs,
payables à la fin du mois. La mère était une veuve aisée,
propriétaire de beaux mûriers, mais pauvre d’argent comptant,
comme nous sommes tous. Elle emprunta sur ses biens, ce qui n’est
jamais facile, même à vingt pour cent d’intérêt. Il lui fallut six
semaines et plus pour réunir la somme. Lorsqu’elle eut enfin
l’argent, elle le chargea sur un mulet et partit à pied pour le camp
d’Hadgi-Stavros. Mais en entrant dans la grande langada du
Taygète, à l’endroit où l’on trouve sept fontaines sous un platane, le
mulet qui marchait devant s’arrêta net et refusa de faire un pas.
Alors la pauvre mère vit sur le bord du chemin ses petites filles. Elles
avaient le cou coupé jusqu’à l’os, et ces jolies têtes ne tenaient
presque plus au corps. Elle prit les deux pauvres créatures, les
chargea elle-même sur le mulet et les ramena à Mistra. Elle ne put
jamais pleurer : aussi elle devint folle et mourut. Je sais qu’Hadgi-
Stavros a regretté ce qu’il avait fait : il croyait que la veuve était plus
riche et qu’elle ne voulait pas payer. Il avait tué les deux enfants
pour l’exemple. Il est certain que depuis ce temps-là ses
recouvrements se sont toujours bien faits, et que personne n’a plus
osé le faire attendre.
« Brutta carogna ! cria Giacomo en frappant un coup qui ébranla
la maison comme un tremblement de terre. Si jamais il me tombe
sous la main, je lui servirai une rançon de dix mille coups de poing
qui lui permettra de se retirer des affaires.
— Moi, dit le petit Lobster avec sort sourire tranquille, je ne
demande qu’à le rencontrer à cinquante pas de mon revolver. Et
vous, oncle John ? »
Harris sifflait entre ses dents un petit air américain, aigu comme
une lame de stylet.
« En croirai-je mes oreilles ? ajouta de sa voix flûtée le bon M.
Mérinay, mortel harmonieux. Est-il possible que de telles horreurs se
commettent dans un siècle comme le nôtre ? Je sais bien que la
Société pour la moralisation des malfaiteurs n’a pas encore établi de
succursales dans ce royaume ; mais en attendant n’avez-vous pas
une gendarmerie ?
— Certainement, reprit Christodule : 50 officiers, 152 brigadiers et
1250 gendarmes, dont 150 à cheval. C’est la meilleure troupe du
royaume, après celle d’Hadgi-Stavros.
— Ce qui m’étonne, dis-je à mon tour, c’est que la fille du vieux
coquin l’ait laissé faire.
— Elle n’est pas avec lui.
— A la bonne heure ! Où est-elle ?
— En pension.
— A Athènes ?
— Vous m’en demandez trop : je n’en sais pas si long. Toujours
est-il que celui qui l’épousera fera un beau mariage.
— Oui, dit Harris. On assure également que la fille de Calcraft
n’est pas un mauvais parti.
— Qu’est-ce que Calcraft ?
— Le bourreau de Londres. »
A ces mots Dimitri, le fils de Christodule, rougit jusqu’aux oreilles.
« Pardon, monsieur, dit-il à John Harris, il y a grande différence entre
un bourreau et un brigand. Le métier de bourreau est infâme ; la
profession de brigand est honorée. Le gouvernement est obligé de
garder le bourreau d’Athènes au fort Palamède, sans quoi il serait
assassiné ; tandis que personne ne veut de mal à Hadgi-Stavros, et
que les plus honnêtes gens du royaume seraient fiers de lui donner
la main. »
Harris ouvrait la bouche pour répliquer, lorsque la sonnette de la
boutique retentit. C’était la servante qui rentrait avec une jeune fille
de quinze à seize ans, habillée comme la dernière gravure du
Journal des modes. Dimitri se leva en disant : « C’est Photini ! »
 « Messieurs, dit le pâtissier, parlons d’autre chose, s’il vous plaît.
Les histoires de brigands ne sont pas faites pour les demoiselles. »
Christodule nous présenta Photini comme la fille d’un de ses
compagnons d’armes, le colonel Jean, commandant de place à
Nauplie. Elle s’appelait donc Photini fille de Jean, suivant l’usage du
pays, où il n’y a pas, à proprement parler, de noms de famille.
La jeune Athénienne était laide, comme les neuf dixièmes des
filles d’Athènes. Elle avait de jolies dents et de beaux cheveux, mais
c’était tout. Sa taille épaisse semblait mal à l’aise dans un corset de
Paris. Ses pieds arrondis en forme de fers à repasser devaient
souffrir le supplice : ils étaient faits pour se traîner dans des
babouches, et non pour se serrer dans des bottines de Meyer. Sa
face rappelait si peu le type grec, qu’elle manquait absolument de
profil ; elle était plate comme si une nourrice imprudente avait
commis la faute de s’asseoir sur la figure de l’enfant. La toilette ne
va pas à toutes les femmes : elle donnait presque un ridicule à la
pauvre Photini. Sa robe à volants, soulevée par une puissante
crinoline, faisait ressortir la gaucherie de sa personne et la
maladresse de ses mouvements. Les bijoux du Palais-Royal, dont
elle était émaillée, semblaient autant de points d’exclamation
destinés à signaler les imperfections de son corps. Vous auriez dit
une grosse et courte servante qui s’est endimanchée dans la garde-
robe de sa maîtresse.
Aucun de nous ne s’étonna que la fille d’un simple colonel fût si
chèrement habillée pour passer son dimanche dans la maison d’un
pâtissier. Nous connaissions assez le pays pour savoir que la toilette
est la plaie la plus incurable de la société grecque. Les filles de la
campagne font percer des pièces d’argent, les cousent ensemble en
forme de casque, et s’en coiffent aux jours de gala. Elles portent leur
dot sur la tête. Les filles de la ville la dépensent chez les marchands,
et la portent sur tout le corps.
Photini était en pension à l’Hétairie. C’est, comme vous savez,
une maison d’éducation établie sur le modèle de la Légion
d’honneur, mais régie par des lois plus larges et plus tolérantes. On
y élève non seulement les filles des soldats, mais quelquefois aussi
les héritières des brigands.
La fille du colonel Jean savait un peu de français et d’anglais ;
mais sa timidité, ne lui permettait pas de briller dans la conversation.
J’ai su plus tard que sa famille comptait sur nous pour la
perfectionner dans les langues étrangères. Son père, ayant appris
que Christodule hébergeait des Européens honnêtes et instruits,
avait prié le pâtissier de la faire sortir tous les dimanches et de lui
servir de correspondant. Ce marché paraissait agréer à Christodule,
et surtout à son fils Dimitri. Le jeune domestique de place dévorait
des yeux la pauvre pensionnaire, qui ne s’en apercevait pas.
Nous avions fait le projet d’aller tous ensemble à la musique.
C’est un beau spectacle, que les Athéniens se donnent à eux-
mêmes tous les dimanches. Le peuple entier se rend, en grands
atours, dans un champ de poussière, pour entendre des valses et
des quadrilles joués par une musique de régiment. La cour n’y
manquerait pas pour un empire. Après le dernier quadrille, chacun
retourne chez soi, l’habit poudreux, le cœur content, et l’on dit :
« Nous nous sommes bien amusés. »
Il est certain que Photini comptait se montrer à la musique, et son
admirateur Dimitri n’était pas fâché d’y paraître avec elle ; car il
portait une redingote neuve qu’il avait achetée toute faite au dépôt
de la Belle jardinière. Malheureusement la pluie se mit à tomber si
dru, qu’il fallut rester à la maison. Pour tuer le temps, Maroula nous
offrit de jouer des bonbons : c’est un divertissement à la mode dans
la société moyenne. Elle prit un bocal dans la boutique, et distribua à
chacun de nous une poignée de bonbons indigènes, au girofle, à
l’anis, au poivre et à la chicorée. Là-dessus, on donna des cartes, et
le premier qui savait en rassembler neuf de la même couleur
recevait trois dragées de chacun de ses adversaires. Le Maltais
Giacomo témoigna par son attention soutenue que le gain ne lui était
pas indifférent. Le hasard se déclara pour lui : il fit une fortune, et
nous le vîmes engloutir sept ou huit poignées de bonbons qui
s’étaient promenés dans les mains de tout le monde et de M.
Mérinay.
 Moi, qui prenais moins d’intérêt à la partie, je concentrai mon
attention sur un phénomène curieux qui se produisait à ma gauche.
Tandis que les regards du jeune Athénien venaient se briser un à un
contre l’indifférence de Photini, Harris, qui ne la regardait pas,
l’attirait à lui par une force invisible. Il tenait ses cartes d’un air
passablement distrait, bâillait de temps en temps avec une candeur
américaine, ou sifflait Yankee Doodle, sans respect pour la
compagnie. Je crois que le récit de Christodule l’avait frappé, et que
son esprit trottait dans la montagne à la poursuite d’Hadgi-Stavros.
Dans tous les cas, s’il pensait à quelque chose, ce n’était
assurément pas à l’amour. Peut-être la jeune fille n’y songeait-elle
pas non plus, car les femmes grecques ont presque toutes au fond
du cœur un bon pavé d’indifférence. Cependant elle regardait mon
ami John comme une alouette regarde un miroir. Elle ne le
connaissait pas ; elle ne savait rien de lui, ni son nom, ni son pays, ni
sa fortune. Elle ne l’avait point entendu parler, et quand même elle
l’aurait entendu, elle n’était certainement pas apte à juger s’il avait
de l’esprit. Elle le voyait très beau, et c’était assez. Les Grecs
d’autrefois adoraient la beauté ; c’est le seul de leurs dieux qui n’ait
jamais eu d’athées. Les Grecs d’aujourd’hui, malgré la décadence,
savent encore distinguer un Apollon d’un magot. On trouve dans le
recueil de M. Fauriel une petite chanson qui peut se traduire ainsi :
« Jeunes garçons, voulez-vous savoir ; jeunes filles, voulez-vous
apprendre comment l’amour entre chez nous ? Il entre par les yeux,
des yeux il descend dans le cœur, et dans le cœur il prend racine. »
Décidément Photini savait la chanson ; car elle ouvrait de grands
yeux pour que l’amour pût y entrer sans se baisser.
La pluie ne se lassait pas de tomber, ni Dimitri de lorgner la jeune
fille, ni la jeune fille de regarder Harris, ni Giacomo de croquer des
bonbons, ni M. Mérinay de raconter au petit Lobster un chapitre
d’histoire ancienne, qu’il n’écoutait pas. A huit heures, Maroula mit le
couvert pour le souper. Photini fut placée entre Dimitri et moi, qui ne
tirais pas à conséquence. Elle causa peu et ne mangea rien. Au
dessert, quand la servante parla de la reconduire, elle fit un effort
visible et me dit à l’oreille :
 « M. Harris est-il marié ? »
Je pris plaisir à l’embarrasser un peu, et je répondis :
« Oui, mademoiselle ; il a épousé la veuve des doges de Venise.
— Est-il possible ! Quel âge a-t-elle ?
— Elle est vieille comme le monde, et éternelle comme lui.
— Ne vous moquez pas de moi ; je suis une pauvre fille, et je ne
comprends pas vos plaisanteries d’Europe.
— En d’autres termes, mademoiselle, il a épousé la mer ; c’est lui
qui commande le stationnaire américain the Fancy. »
Elle me remercia avec un tel rayonnement de joie, que sa laideur
en fut éclipsée et que je la trouvai jolie pendant une seconde au
moins.
 CHAPITRE III

MARY-ANN

Les études de ma jeunesse ont développé en moi une passion

qui a fini par empiéter sur toutes les autres : c’est le désir de savoir,
ou, si vous aimez mieux l’appeler autrement, la curiosité. Jusqu’au
jour où je partis pour Athènes, mon seul plaisir avait été
d’apprendre ; mon seul chagrin, d’ignorer. J’aimais la science
comme une maîtresse, et personne n’était encore venu lui disputer
mon cœur. En revanche, il faut convenir que je n’étais pas tendre, et
que la poésie et Hermann Schultz entraient rarement par la même
porte. Je me promenais dans le monde comme dans un vaste
muséum, la loupe à la main. J’observais les plaisirs et les
souffrances d’autrui comme des faits dignes d’étude, mais indignes
d’envie ou de pitié. Je ne jalousais pas plus un heureux ménage
qu’un couple de palmiers mariés par le vent ; j’avais juste autant de
compassion pour un cœur déchiré par l’amour que pour un géranium
grillé par la gelée. Quand on a disséqué des animaux vivants, on
n’est plus guère sensible aux cris de la chair palpitante. J’aurais été
bon public dans un combat de gladiateurs.
L’amour de Photini pour John Harris eût apitoyé tout autre qu’un
naturaliste. La pauvre créature aimait à tort et à travers, suivant la
belle expression d’Henri IV ; et il était évident qu’elle aimerait en
pure perte. Elle était trop timide pour laisser percer son amour, et
John était trop brouillon pour le deviner. Quand même il se serait
aperçu de quelque chose, le moyen d’espérer qu’il s’intéresserait à
une laideron naïve des bords de l’Ilissus ? Photini passa quatre
autres journées avec lui, les quatre dimanches d’avril. Elle le
regarda, du matin au soir, avec des yeux languissants et
désespérés ; mais elle ne trouva jamais le courage d’ouvrir la
bouche en sa présence. Harris sifflait tranquillement, Dimitri grondait
comme un jeune dogue, et moi, j’observais en souriant cette étrange
maladie dont ma constitution m’avait toujours préservé.
Mon père m’écrivit sur ces entrefaites pour me dire que les
affaires allaient bien mal, que les voyageurs étaient rares, que la vie
était chère, que nos voisins d’en face venaient d’émigrer, et que si
j’avais trouvé une princesse russe, je n’avais rien de mieux à faire
que de l’épouser sans délai. Je répondis que je n’avais trouvé
personne à séduire, si ce n’est la fille d’un pauvre colonel grec ;
qu’elle était sérieusement éprise, mais d’un autre que moi ; que je
pourrais, avec un peu d’adresse, devenir son confident, mais que je
ne ferais jamais son mari. Au demeurant, ma santé était bonne, mon
herbier magnifique. Mes recherches, renfermées jusque-là dans la
banlieue d’Athènes, allaient pouvoir s’étendre plus loin. La sécurité
renaissait, les brigands avaient été battus par la gendarmerie, et
tous les journaux annonçaient la dispersion de la bande d’Hadgi-
Stavros. Dans un mois au plus tard je pourrais me mettre en route
pour l’Allemagne, et solliciter une place qui donnât du pain à toute la
famille.
Nous avions lu, le dimanche 28 avril, dans le Siècle d’Athènes, la
grande défaite du roi des Montagnes. Les rapports officiels disaient
qu’il avait eu vingt hommes mis hors de combat, son camp brûlé, sa
troupe dispersée, et que la gendarmerie l’avait poursuivi jusque dans
les marais de Marathon. Ces nouvelles, fort agréables à tous les
étrangers, avaient paru causer moins de plaisir aux Grecs, et
particulièrement à nos hôtes. Christodule, pour un lieutenant de la
phalange, manquait d’enthousiasme, et la fille du colonel Jean avait
failli pleurer en écoutant la défaite du brigand. Harris, qui avait
apporté le journal, ne dissimulait pas sa joie. Quant à moi, je rentrais
en possession de la campagne, et j’étais enchanté. Dès le 30 au
matin, je me mis en route avec ma boîte et mon bâton. Dimitri
m’éveilla sur les quatre heures. Il allait prendre les ordres d’une
famille anglaise, débarquée depuis quelques jours à l’hôtel des
Étrangers.
Je descendis la rue d’Hermès jusqu’au carrefour de la Belle-
Grèce, et je pris la rue d’Éole. En passant devant la place des
Canons, je saluai la petite artillerie du royaume, qui sommeille sous
un hangar en rêvant la prise de Constantinople, et j’arrivai en quatre
enjambées à la promenade de Patissia. Les mélias qui la bordent
des deux côtés commençaient à entr’ouvrir leurs fleurs odorantes.
Le ciel, d’un bleu foncé, blanchissait imperceptiblement entre
l’Hymette et le Pentélique. Devant moi, à l’horizon, les sommets du
Parnès se dressaient comme une muraille ébréchée : c’était le but
de mon voyage. Je descendis par un chemin de traverse jusqu’à la
maison de la comtesse Janthe Théotoki, occupée par la légation de
France ; je longeai les jardins du prince Michel Soutzo de l’Académie
de Platon, qu’un président de l’aréopage mit en loterie il y a
quelques années, et j’entrai dans le bois d’oliviers. Les grives
matinales et les merles, leurs cousins germains, sautillaient dans les
feuillages argentés et bavardaient joyeusement sur ma tête. Au
débouché du bois, je traversai de grandes orges vertes où les
chevaux de l’Attique, courts et trapus comme sur la frise du
Parthénon, se consolaient du fourrage sec et de la nourriture
échauffante de l’hiver. Des bandes de tourterelles s’envolaient à
mon approche, et les alouettes huppées montaient verticalement
dans le ciel comme les fusées d’un feu d’artifice. De temps en temps
une tortue indolente traversait le chemin en traînant sa maison. Je la
couchais soigneusement sur le dos, et je poursuivais ma route en lui
laissant l’honneur de se tirer d’affaire. Après deux heures de
marche, j’entrai dans le désert. Les tracés de culture
disparaissaient ; on ne voyait sur le sol aride que des touffes d’herbe
maigre, des oignons d’ornithogale ou de longues tiges d’asphodèles
desséchées. Le soleil se levait et je voyais distinctement les sapins
qui hérissent le flanc du Parnès. Le sentier que j’avais pris n’était
pas un guide bien sûr, mais je me dirigeais sur un groupe de
maisons éparpillées au revers de la montagne, et qui devaient être
le village de Castia.
Je franchis d’une enjambée le Céphise éleusinien, au grand
scandale des petites tortues plates qui sautaient à l’eau comme de
simples grenouilles. A cent pas plus loin, le chemin se perdit dans un
ravin large et profond, creusé par les pluies de deux ou trois mille
hivers. Je supposai avec quelque raison que le ravin devait être la
route. J’avais remarqué, dans mes excursions précédentes, que les
Grecs se dispensent de tracer un chemin toutes les fois que l’eau a
bien voulu se charger de la besogne. Dans ce pays, où l’homme
contrarie peu le travail de la nature, les torrents sont routes royales ;
les ruisseaux, routes départementales ; les rigoles, chemins
vicinaux. Les orages font l’office d’ingénieurs des ponts et
chaussées, et la pluie est un agent voyer qui entretient, sans
contrôle, les chemins de grande et de petite communication. Je
m’enfonçai donc dans le ravin, et je poursuivis ma promenade entre
deux rives escarpées qui me cachaient la plaine, la montagne et
mon but. Mais le chemin capricieux faisait tant de détours, que
bientôt il me fut difficile de savoir dans quelle direction je marchais,
et si je ne tournais pas le dos au Parnès. Le parti le plus sage eût
été de grimper sur l’une ou l’autre rive et de m’orienter en plaine ;
mais les talus étaient à pic, j’étais las, j’avais faim, et je me trouvais
bien à l’ombre. Je m’assis sur un galet de marbre, je tirai de ma
boîte un morceau de pain, une épaule d’agneau froide, et une
gourde du petit vin que vous savez. Je me disais : « Si je suis sur un
chemin, il y passera peut-être quelqu’un et je m’informerai. »
En effet, comme je refermais mon couteau pour m’étendre à
l’ombre avec cette douce quiétude qui suit le déjeuner des
voyageurs et des serpents, je crus entendre un pas de cheval.
J’appliquai une oreille contre terre et je reconnus que deux ou trois
cavaliers s’avançaient derrière moi. Je bouclai ma boîte sur mon
dos, et je m’apprêtai à les suivre, dans le cas où ils se dirigeraient
sur le Parnès. Cinq minutes après, je vis apparaître deux dames
montées sur des chevaux de manège et équipées comme des
Anglaises en voyage. Derrière elles marchait un piéton que je n’eus
pas de peine à reconnaître : c’était Dimitri.
Vous qui avez un peu couru le monde, vous n’êtes pas sans
avoir remarqué que le voyageur se met toujours en marche sans
aucun souci des vanités de la toilette, mais que s’il vient à rencontrer
des dames, fussent-elles plus vieilles que la colombe de l’arche, il
sort brusquement de cette indifférence et jette un regard inquiet sur
son enveloppe poudreuse. Avant même de distinguer la figure des
deux amazones derrière leurs voiles de crêpe bleu, j’avais fait
l’inspection de toute ma personne, et j’avais été assez satisfait. Je
portais les vêtements que vous voyez, et qui sont encore
présentables, quoiqu’ils me servent depuis bientôt deux ans. Je n’ai
changé que ma coiffure : une casquette, fût-elle aussi belle et aussi
bonne que celle-ci, ne protégerait pas un voyageur contre les coups
de soleil. J’avais un chapeau de feutre gris à larges bords, où la
poussière ne marquait point.
Je l’ôtai poliment sur le passage des deux dames, qui ne
parurent pas s’inquiéter grandement de mon salut. Je tendis la main
à Dimitri, et il m’apprit en quelques mots tout ce que je voulais
savoir.
— Suis-je bien sur le chemin du Parnès ?
— Oui, nous y allons.
— Je peux faire route avec vous ?
— Pourquoi pas ?
— Qu’est-ce que ces dames ?
— Mes Anglaises. Le milord est resté à l’hôtel.
— Quelle espèce de gens ?
— Peuh ! des banquiers de Londres. La vieille dame est Mme
Simons, de la maison Barley et Co ; le milord est son frère ; la
demoiselle est sa fille.
— Jolie ?
— Suivant les goûts. J’aime mieux Photini.
 — Irez-vous jusqu’à la forteresse de Philé ?
— Oui. Elles m’ont pris pour une semaine, à dix francs par jour et
nourri. C’est moi qui organiserai les promenades. J’ai commencé par
celle-ci, parce que je savais vous rencontrer. Mais quelle guêpe les
pique ?
La vieille dame, ennuyée de voir que je lui empruntais son
domestique, avait mis sa bête au trot dans un passage où, de
mémoire de cheval, personne n’avait jamais trotté. L’autre animal,
piqué au jeu, essayait de prendre la même allure, et, si nous avions
causé quelques minutes de plus, nous étions distancés. Dimitri court
rejoindre ces dames, et j’entendis Mme Simons lui dire en anglais :
« Ne vous éloignez pas. Je suis Anglaise et je veux être bien
servie. Je ne vous paye pas pour faire la conversation avec vos
amis. Qu’est-ce que ce Grec avec qui vous causiez ?
— C’est un Allemand, madame.
— Ah !… Qu’est-ce qu’il fait ?
— Il cherche des herbes.
— C’est donc un apothicaire.
— Non, madame : c’est un savant.
— Ah !… Sait-il l’anglais ?
— Oui, madame, très bien.
— Ah !…
Les trois « ah ! » de la vieille dame furent dits sur trois tons
différents, que j’aurais eu du plaisir à noter si j’avais su la musique.
Ils indiquaient par des nuances bien sensibles les progrès que
j’avais faits dans l’estime de Mme Simons. Cependant elle ne
m’adressa pas la parole, et je suivis la petite caravane à quelques
pas de distance. Dimitri n’osait plus causer avec moi : il marchait en
avant, comme un prisonnier de guerre. Tout ce qu’il put faire en ma
faveur fut de me lancer deux ou trois regards qui voulaient dire en
français : « Que ces Anglaises sont pimbêches ! » Miss Simons ne
retournait pas la tête, et j’étais hors d’état de décider en quoi sa
laideur différait de celle de Photini. Ce que je pus voir sans
indiscrétion, c’est que la jeune Anglaise était grande et
merveilleusement faite. Ses épaules étaient larges, sa taille ronde
comme un jonc et souple comme un roseau. Le peu qu’on
apercevait de son cou m’eût fait penser aux cygnes du jardin
zoologique, quand même je n’aurais pas été naturaliste.
Sa mère se retourna pour lui parler, et je doublai le pas, dans
l’espoir d’entendre sa voix. Ne vous ai-je pas averti que j’étais
passionnément curieux ? J’arrivai juste à temps pour recueillir la
conversation suivante :
« Mary-Ann !
— Maman ?
— J’ai faim.
— Avez-vous ?
— J’ai.
— Moi, maman, j’ai chaud.
— Avez-vous ?
— J’ai. »
Vous croyez que ce dialogue éminemment anglais me fit
sourire ? Point du tout, monsieur ; j’étais sous le Charme. La voix de
Mary-Ann avait suivi je ne sais quel chemin pour pénétrer je ne sais
où ; le fait est qu’en l’écoutant j’éprouvai comme une angoisse
délicieuse, et je me sentis très agréablement étouffé. De me vie je
n’avais rien entendu de plus jeune, de plus frais, de plus argentin
que cette petite voix. Le son d’une pluie d’or tombant sur le toit de
mon père m’aurait paru moins doux en vérité. « Quel malheur,
pensais-je en moi-même, que les oiseaux les plus mélodieux soient
nécessairement les plus laids ! » Et je craignais de voir son visage,
et pourtant je mourais d’envie de la regarder en face, tant la curiosité
a d’empire sur moi.
Dimitri comptait faire déjeuner les deux voyageuses au khan de
Calyvia. C’est une auberge construite en planches mal jointes ; mais
on y trouve en toute saison une outre de vin résiné, une bouteille de
rhaki, c’est-à-dire d’anisette, du pain bis, des œufs, et tout un