European Journal of Criminology 2015, Vol. 12(2) 208–225 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1477370815571946 euc.sagepub.com Citizen confidence in private security guards in Portugal Samuel Moreira and Carla Cardoso School of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Porto, Portugal Mahesh K. Nalla Michigan State University, USA Abstract Although private security guards are a visible presence and come into contact with the general public, very little is known about citizens’ trust in and satisfaction with private security agents who act not only in the capacity of service providers but as agents of crime prevention. Given the rapid increase in the employment of security guards in Portugal in recent years, the goal of this study is to assess citizens’ level of trust in and satisfaction with private security agents in Portugal and whether factors such as citizens’ contact experience and their perceptions about the professionalism, imagery, civility and accountability of private security guards influence their confidence in them. Findings from a sample of 163 respondents from the city of Porto suggest that professionalism and accountability appear to be good predictors of citizens’ confidence as measured by trust in and satisfaction with private security guards. Keywords Citizen confidence in private security guards, perceptions of private security guards, private security guards, private security Introduction Research on the growth of the private security industry and security guard employment suggests that there has been significant growth both in Europe and around the world. Portugal is no exception. De Waard (1999) noted that in 1996 in Portugal, there were 15,000 security personnel, representing a rate of 152 officers per 100,000 inhabitants. Comparatively, Portugal had 43,459 police officers, representing a rate of 440 officers Corresponding author: Carla Cardoso, School of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Porto, Rua dos Bragas, 223, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal. Email: ccardoso@direito.up.pt 571946EUC 0 0 10.1177/1477370815571946European Journal of CriminologyMoreira et al. research-article 2015 Article