The role of the private sector in counter-terrorism: a scoping review of the literature on emergency responses to terrorism

Partnerships between public and private sector actors are expected to grow in response to calls for a broader cross-sectoral counter-terrorism strategy. However, the formation of these partnerships is a current challenge for private sector security professionals, as there is no standardised approach to securitising terrorism or even a common understanding of how private security can contribute to prevention efforts. This paper provides a review of the literature on private sector security procedures used in response to terrorism. The results showed that physical security and security assessments (risk, threat and vulnerability assessments) were the most frequently discussed security themes for protection against terrorist threats. Security measures that received less attention in the literature were related to intelligence gathering and multi-agency cooperation. It is concluded that security procedures in the private sector related to terrorism and other extreme acts of violence should receive more attention in the academic literature to contribute to a better understanding of private security practices.