Lim Sokha Reaksmey, the National Police’s Private Security Management Department director attended at the opening ceremony for Phase 17 of private security guard training on Monday in Phnom Penh. Police
Lim Sokha Reaksmey, the National Police’s Private Security Management Department director, on Monday issued guidance instructing all entertainment venues to use private security guards rather than government officials because it contradicts what is stated in the law.
Sokha Reaksmey gave the guidance at the opening ceremony for Phase 17 of private security guard training on Monday in Phnom Penh, which was attended by some 2,000 private security agents.
“The Private Security Management Department would like to inform all entertainment centres, especially karaoke parlours and casinos, not to use national armed forces as private security guards to protect their premises, because those forces are professionally trained with skills and capacities in accordance with the law,” he said.
Sokha Reaksmey said the Private Security Management Department would pay close attention to the development and sustainability of the private security sector.
He said the guidance was made to abide by remarks made on June 12 by Interior Minister Sar Kheng, who is also deputy prime minister.
Sar Kheng instructed officials to strictly adhere to existing regulations and prohibit the hiring of government forces to work at private entertainment centres – especially nightclubs, karaoke parlours and casinos – because they are government law enforcement officers.
He said private security guards play an important and active role in maintaining social order, including protecting the national interest and aiding its development.
Private security guards, he said, are an extra aid in the fight against criminals and should report to the police in a timely manner and hand suspects over to the police to follow legal procedures.
While presiding over a swearing-in ceremony for the capital’s newly elected councillors at Phnom Penh Municipal Hall on June 12, Sar Kheng said: “Our police forces include civil servants, soldiers, police and military police, so may the senior officers be careful not to order their teams to [act as security guards] at karaoke venues.”
Sokha Reaksmey urged all entertainment venues to increasingly use private security guards, while those guards could receive training from the National Police.
The National Police’s Private Security Management Department holds courses to provide training for private security guards in order to improve the security sector and ensure better collaboration with local government authorities.
