Company Police
Company police agencies are a vital part of the criminal justice system. Company police help patrol and enforce the criminal laws of our state on private and public school property, at county and state hospitals, at shopping centers, apartment complexes and office buildings, and even on golf courses and recreational lakes. These agencies and their respective officers may by law provide the same police services within their territorial jurisdiction as do municipal law enforcement officers in North Carolina.
Under Chapter 74E of the North Carolina General Statutes, the Attorney General is given the authority to certify an agency as a company police agency and to commission an individual as a company police officer. A public or private educational institution or hospital, a state institution, or a corporation engaged in providing on-site police security personnel services may apply to be certified as a company police agency. A company police agency may also apply to commission an individual designated by that agency to act as a company police officer.
To be commissioned as a company police officer, an individual must meet the minimum standards [link to page] required for employment and certification as a law enforcement officer in North Carolina, including completion of the Basic Law Enforcement Training course required of any other officer. The officer will then receive law enforcement certification from the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission. The Company Police Program also requires that officers be examined on the law and administrative rules governing company police.
Once officially sworn in, the company police officer receives his or her commission from the Attorney General and will be regulated by the Company Police Program. This commission gives a company police officer the same power as other sworn law enforcement officers to make arrests and to charge for infractions, subject to strict territorial jurisdiction limitations.
For more information, please contact the Company Police Administrator Vickie M. Huskey at the Criminal Justice Standards Division of the North Carolina Department of Justice for more information by telephone at (919) 716-6470 or by e-mail at: Vhuskey@ncdoj.com