Security professionals and public opinion: Legitimacy, publicity and brand identity

Security professionals have become an increasingly important part of analyses of security and security politics. This article focuses on a specific aspect of such roles and identities; namely the extent to which security professionals view public opinion as an important factor in their work. Drawing on primary data, in the form of interviews with public and private security professionals, this article argues that instead of public opinion being a distant concern for such “securocrats”, that public opinions and views can be, and sometimes are, important for the work of security professionals. Analysis of the interviews finds security professionals attesting to the significance of public opinion for their work and delineating specific instances where public views have shifted and changed their work. However, in this connection, publicity is a key factor. Where the work of security professionals is prominent and visible, the incentives to pay heed to public views is greater. For public security professionals, claims to legitimacy feature prominently; whereas for private security professionals, it is the protection of brand identity which drives such concerns. The article argues that where such publicity is absent, we should be more pessimistic about the extent of the influence and significance of public voices.