• With Robberies Up, Oakland Residents Turn To Private Cops. Overall, robberies in Oakland are up 24 percent over the past year, with armed robberies up 45 percent. Since the recession dried up local tax revenues, the Oakland Police Department has been hamstrung by the loss of more than 200 officers and can't respond to all the calls it receives for help. By Richard Gonsalez, National Public Radio, November 15, 2013: TEXT | AUDIO | PICTURE

• London 2012 Olympics: Games security firm G4S release cringeworthy corporate power ballad - a power ballad which invokes the staff to "be the winner you were born to be" and "face the beast". The Telegraph, July 20, 2012: click here

• Ain't That Good News. On the Media with Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone, 8 October 2004: "...we learned that the U.S. Agency for International Development is virtually ending the distribution here in the U.S. of casualty reports from a risk-assessment contractor in Iraq called Kroll Security International. ..." [sound and transcript]: http://www.onthemedia.org/yore/transcripts/transcripts_100804_arkin.html

• Congress Hears Emotional Testimony About Lives Lost in Iraq. The families of four privately-employed security guards who were killed in Iraq gave emotional testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday.  They told Congress the employer -- a government contractor -- failed to provide adequate protections. Voice of America, 8 February 2007: http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-02-08-voa56.cfm

• Libya: Mercenaries thought to be helping Gaddafi's son Saif. PCC Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said we're also receiving information that a group of mercenaries may be endeavouring to facilitate Saif al-Islam's escape from Libya. By Barbara Miller, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, November 3, 2011 18:30:00: TEXT | AUDIO

• Licensed to Kill. Talk with Robert Young Pelton. Host: Benjamin Chertoff. Popular Mechanics, 12 September 2006: click here

• UN investigates Iraq security contractors. The UN has also singled out the American military operations, expressing concern that too many civilians are being killed, particularly by air strikes. Shootings by private security contractors have caught the UN's attention too. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, AM - Presented by Tony Eastley - Reporter: Kim Landers. 12 October , 2007 08:16:00: TEXT | AUDIO

• Soldier Recounts Year Spent Training Iraqi Police [Audio]. National Public Radio, All Things Considered, July 9, 2007: click here

• These Guns for Hire: Should the Military be Privatized? New York Public Radio, The Brian Lehrer Show, and 31 October 2006: Doug Brooks and Robert Young Peyton debate the use of private security firms by the U.S. military: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2006/10/31

• BBC Focus on Africa (previous link preserved or research purposes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/focusonafrica/) | new radio content available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00w940j