Public security

Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensure the protection of citizens, persons in their territory, organizations, and institutions against threats to their well-being, survival, and prosperity.^[1]

The public safety issues that a municipality, county, regional, or federal jurisdiction may handle include crimes (ranging from misdemeanors to felonies), structure fires, conflagrations, medical emergencies, mass-casualty incidents, disasters, terrorism, and other concerns.

Public safety organizations are organizations that conduct public safety. They generally consist of emergency services and first responders such as law enforcement, fire services, emergency medical services, security forces, and military forces. They are often operated by a government, though some private public safety organizations exist where possible.

Organized crime and international terrorism are hardly deterred by geographical, linguistic, or financial barriers. The latter has largely contributed to public security becoming an important political and economic issue, nationally as well as internationally. Politics, public organizations and businesses closely collaborate to guarantee public security and maintain a stable environment for economic prosperity.

Although public security significantly contributes to the attractiveness of a location, the productivity of its people, and hence the overall success of an economy, the sector frequently suffers from low budgets, limited resources, and inadequate information systems. Large events, pandemics, severe accidents, environmental disasters, and terrorist attacks pose additional threats to public security and order.

The police, federal police and border authorities nonetheless need to warrant the security of the country as a fundamental prerequisite for the domestic political ability to act. The quality and scope of potential threats have changed significantly, and the tasks and general framework for the police, federal police and border authorities have changed accordingly.

• Federal law enforcement agency
• Criminal investigation department
• Border patrol
• Gendarmerie
• Ministry or department of interior, justice, or public safety

• County police
• Sheriff or constable's office
• State trooper or provincial police

• Police department or marshal
• Fire services
• Emergency medical services
• Local government
• Municipal public affairs office

• National or federal police
• Regional, state, and local police

• Intelligence services
• Investigator services
• Secret services

• Emergency medical services
• Fire service
• Police
• Park ranger
• Ocean Safety Lifeguard
• Search and rescue

• Courts
  • Judges
  • Juries
  • Lawyers and advocates
• Forensic
• Justice ministry
• Prison officers

• Border and port authorities
• Coast guard
• Customer services
• Home guard

• Crowd control
• Riot control

• Homeland security
• Internal security
• Justice
• Law enforcement
• Societal security

• Media related to Public safety at Wikimedia Commons
• Murray N. Rothbard: The Public Sector, III: Police, Law, and the Courts aus For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto