Word: wackenhut
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...press conference by phone from Kabul, where he is working for another security firm he refused to name. Gordon added that employees and managers were allowed to "frequent brothels notorious for housing trafficked women," activity about which the company allegedly misled the State Department and Congress. Wackenhut Services Inc., the Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., company that is now the parent of ArmorGroup International, said that Gordon "voluntarily resigned" and that his "factual allegations and legal claims were overstated, ill-founded, not based on any personal knowledge, or otherwise lacking in legal merit." It also said it was cooperating fully with...
...problems have been exacerbated by the global consolidation of the security industry. In 2008, ArmorGroup was bought by G4S, the largest security company in the world. G4S also bought ArmorGroup's rival, Wackenhut, which now runs ArmorGroup in the new conglomerate. Before they found themselves under the same big tent, Wackenhut and ArmorGroup had competed for the U.S. embassy contract, which ArmorGroup won with a substantially lower bid. Now, Wackenhut has found itself managing the Kabul embassy contract anyway. In June, Wackenhut vice president Samuel Brinkley admitted to Congress, "We feel we can safely say that adequate guard services...
...question whether plant security forces could even beat the DBT. Until May, Davidson was the chief guard trainer at Pilgrim Nuclear Station, south of Boston. The 16-year employee says she was fired from her $75,000-a-year job for complaining about poor security at the plant. Wackenhut Corp., the giant security company that employed her, says she was terminated for failing to improve security. "Security at the plant is pathetic," says Davidson. "It's just too confusing." Because there were too few guards, she says, each had to fulfill a different mission, depending on how an attack unfolded...
Even if the current security standards are sufficient, there is some question as to whether they will be properly enforced. Last year the NRC approved the NEI's request to hire the Wackenhut Corp. to test security at the nation's plants. Such exercises--suspended after 9/11, pending improvements--resumed last fall. Each plant is to be tested once every three years, which means the British-owned Wackenhut is running fake attacks twice a month...
...Wackenhut also provides security at about half the nation's nuclear reactors. "The very company that makes a living guarding nuclear power plants is also testing nuclear power plants' security," says Congressman Markey. "It's like a take-home exam." No one in the industry has forgotten that just before a mock attack against a DOE facility in 2003, Wackenhut "attackers" tipped off Wackenhut guards about the particulars of the drill. Under the new rules, NRC referees are supposed to pay close attention to ensure that Wackenhut's fake attackers aren't holding back when they launch a mock strike...