The role of the law enforcement agencies in transport security, a survey with Swedish operators

Transport security, that is, the protection against antagonistic attacks in form of terrorism, theft, counterfeiting, piracy etc. has become a major concern for managers during the last years. The consequences of security incidents include economic losses for industries, but in case of terror attacks may also affect society in general. If transport networks are not adequately protected, consumable products (e.g. food, pharmaceuticals) could be counterfeited or contaminated and smuggled into a country, giving rise to death or diseases. Today, to enhance the protection of transport networks, companies have wide access to handbooks, advanced security technologies or certification programs (e.g. TAPA EMEA, ISO28001, C-TPAT or AEO, etc.). Despite this, statistics indicate that transport networks are low-risk/high-revenue targets, and therefore security needs to be enhanced. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the role played by the law enforcement agencies in transport security. More specifically, this paper strives to demonstrate the influence of the allocation of law enforcement agencies’ resources on criminal justice efforts as well as on community policing activities to deter crime. Using Structural Equation Modelling techniques, two hypotheses are empirically tested on a sample of 577 Swedish transport operators. The results unveil that both the relationships are statistically significant. Finally, implications for managers and practitioners are discussed.