Every private protective service provider is heavily regulated by various government bureaucracies especially since private security is increasingly regarded as a threat to public police forces. Some states grant private protective agents a limited power of arrest. Typically, arrest powers are granted to security guards only while employed on the property of a client. This provision is denied to private agents in North Carolina but would be present in a free society. Briefly, protection encompasses all passive activities taken to deter criminal activity.
Defense includes active steps when one is faced with an aggressor.
Any discussion of the role of private security agents in a free nation 5 must begin with the individual. All other forms of entities partnerships, corporations, joint ventures, etc. are artificial persons formed in a voluntary fashion. Ultimately, each individual is responsible for the protection of his person and chattels. Individuals intuitively practice protective activities when even vaguely aware of a possible threat. Contra to LeFevre, if an individual is granted the ability to take preventative measures, but denied the ability to defend himself when faced with an aggressor, or to seek to be restored from a violation of his property, then one must question the value of the ownership of property or the value one places upon one s own life.