Security at the NAC: Wackenhut fires back
CQ Homeland Security has posted a letter online from Wackenhut CEO James Long to Sec. Chertoff, responding to allegations about Wackenhut’s performance on its contract to guard the DHS Nebraska Avenue Complex (NAC), which ended last month. It’s an interesting read.
It’s also worth considering this issue in its larger context, and whether there is a gathering opposition to the use of private guard services for sensitive federal facilities. In February, the Department of Energy’s IG published a report which noted that Wackenhut had falsified guard training records at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. On Thursday, the GAO released a report on the use of Alaska Native Corporations that criticizes an Army contract for private guard services which was won by the Alaska Native Corporation Alutiiq using 8(a) provisions to bypass competitive bidding (and had Wackenhut as a subcontractor).
