Proposal would create new licence for accredited security professionals operating in shared spaces…
New Zealand’s ACT Party has announced proposals to give specially trained security professionals greater powers to respond to crime and antisocial behaviour in retail, transport and other shared spaces.
The plan, announced by ACT Leader David Seymour, would introduce a new licence for Accredited Security Operators, enabling retailers, business associations, shopping strips and transport operators to access security staff with additional legal powers.
Seymour said businesses wanted protection from “trained, uniformed professionals”, but argued that police could not respond quickly to every incident.
Announcing the news, Mr Seymour said: “New Zealand has twice as many licensed security officers as police officers, but they currently have no more authority than any other citizen.
“ACT will give real power – with clear limits – to properly trained security professionals. We’ll introduce a new licence that security professionals can obtain, with training, to gain the authority needed to keep shared spaces and businesses safe.”
ACT will introduce a new higher-level security licence, with proper safeguards, so that specifically trained security officers will have clear authority to:
- Require a person’s name and address on private premises and detain them until Police arrive if they refuse and won’t leave.
- Issue conduct-based exclusion notices, enforceable for up to three years across multiple premises – like those of a business association – held on a register under the Privacy Act.
- Remove people who threaten safety, cause damage, or breach a venue’s conditions of entry.
- Use reasonable and proportionate force as a last resort, ceasing the moment the person complies or Police arrive.
- Carry out consent-based safety searches, including on the premises, where refusing a search means no entry.
Seymour said licence holders would be required to complete “specialised advanced training and education”, with vetting intended to ensure the powers are limited to suitable professionals.
ACT’s retail crime spokesperson, Dr Parmjeet Parmar, said retail crime continued to affect businesses, workers and town centres, adding that Retail NZ’s Crime Report estimated crime costs the sector $2.6 billion a year.