I’ve always been curious about things like Dover Port Police, Mersey Tunnels Police, and other specialist forces that aren’t part of the main police but still have full police powers.
Surely it would be cheaper and involve less legal complexity to just run a standard security department for those sites?
Instead, these private police forces seem to be funded by the organisation they protect.
Is there a practical reason why it’s better to have your own police force than just hiring security, is it about powers of arrest, insurance, legal obligations, or something else entirely?