“Again, it’s because you can fire a bad contractor, but you can’t fire the government. I think TSA stands for Thousands Standing Around.” -John Stossel
*****
First off, bravo to Dick Roehm for at least taking a realistic approach to security at his airport. If they cannot depend upon the TSA to provide good security, along with good customer service and satisfaction, then I say go private and demand those things via a well written contract. Europe, along with Israel, has been doing this awhile, and to me, the TSA along with government is a terrible security apparatus to use.
As for Jim McGarvey, stop drinking the kool aid that the contractor haters have been serving you, and listen to reason. Better yet, just read the quote up top, and tell me how with the current system in place, that you can actually fire the TSA for doing a poor job? Besides, the argument that the town will lose jobs when they go private is stupid. Who do you think private companies will hire for work locally?
The other thing that bothers me about Jim’s assessment is the idea that making a profit is evil or something? Profit is what drives a company and it’s employees to be competitive and do a good job in order to maintain the contract. If they suck at what they are doing, or try to rip off the airport, the airport authority just ends the contract and goes with someone that can do a better job. And hey, if the AA writes up a good contract and actually monitors the quality of the contract, then they can actually get a good value for the dollar. The company providing the service also knows what it has to do in order to maintain the contract when you have that kind of a system. Like Stossel said, you can fire a bad contractor, but you can’t fire the government. –Matt
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Security breach raises questions about government airport screening
January 13, 2010
By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer
A passenger getting through security at Gallatin Field with a gun, coupled with ongoing complaints about how passengers are treated at checkpoints, is trying the patience of the head of the local airport authority.
Now, Dick Roehm is raising the prospect turning to a private company to handle security at the airport.
On the morning of Sunday, Dec. 13, Transportation Security Administration screeners at Gallatin Field inadvertently allowed a man with a firearm in his carry-on bag through security, according to a TSA statement released Wednesday.
While in the boarding area, the unidentified man realized he had the gun and turned himself into TSA officials. In response, TSA rescreened every passenger at the airport, including passengers on a Horizon Air flight that had left the gate but not yet taken off, delaying three flights for more than an hour, said Roehm, who was briefed on the incident.
The gun was turned over to local law enforcement and the passenger was allowed to continue on the flight, TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird said in a written statement.
Dealing with security is one of the most common complaints Roehm hears about the airport, he said, and the breach only added to his frustration.
“How can someone get through the checkpoint with a firearm when I have to take off my belt?” Roehm asked Wednesday.
While no formal motions have been made to contract security out, and none are planned for the airport authority’s regular meeting today, Roehm said he wants the idea explored.
Roehm is not alone in his frustration. Several other airports in the state are looking into to hiring private firms to handle security instead of TSA, which is allowed under the federal act that created TSA. As reported by the Montana Standard in December, airport directors in Butte, Missoula and Kalispell are all considering going with a private firm to handle security, citing inefficiencies that come with working with a government bureaucracy.
Airport Director Brian Sprenger Wednesday said he wants to see how private security works at other airports in Montana before putting anything in at Gallatin Field.
“We’re watching what’s happening with them,” he said. “It’s something that we would watch closely to see how effective it is. Our biggest concern is a safe environment for our traveling public.”
Roehm said his problems with TSA have ranged from rude employees to having trouble getting information from the agency.
“I want to make it clear to the TSA that if (they) don’t start being courteous, we’ll start looking for alternatives,” Roehm said.
“If those guys can’t detect a handgun, which is pretty basic, not some exotic explosive sewn to your underpants, then we get upset,” he said.
However, as more airports are looking toward privatizing airport security, some are urging caution.
Jim McGarvey, executive secretary for Montana AFL-CIO, said privatizing airport security could cost good jobs in the community and gives security a profit motive.
“We see it everywhere: When you privative, you’re cutting out good salaries, and in this case safety, so private companies can maximize their profits,” he said.
McGarvey recently wrote and op-ed published in several papers expounding on that idea.
“Our taxpayer dollars fund airport security. Information indicates that private corporations interested in contracting this work will maintain the same budget level but will do so for the purpose of turning a profit, which means fewer employees, less training and lesser employee benefit programs like pensions and health care coverage,” he wrote.
Daniel Person can be reached at dperson@dailychronicle.com or 582-2665.
Story here.
In crises, private firms can be a safety net
By Megan Woolhouse and Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | January 16, 2010
Britney Gengel’s family and friends were overcome with relief to hear that a mysterious security agency had rescued the 19-year-old college student from Rutland, who had been missing in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Then came the bad news: Reports were wrong and Gengel was still missing.
Officials at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., which sponsored the relief-mission group Gengel that had been part of, said the unnamed agency had received “bad intelligence.’’
“We don’t know how it is that we got a report like that only to find out it was in fact wrong,’’ said school spokesman Jason Hughes.
Some reports identified the agency as red24, a security firm headquartered in England that conducts hundreds of privately funded rescue efforts every year.
Red24, whose website says it is actively helping clients in Haiti, is one of several companies that assist people in high-risk situations like kidnappings, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters. They thrive in regions of the world where police or government aid may be inadequate or nonexistent. And they are often staffed by former members of the military, CIA, or FBI. Company officials at red24 did not return calls for this story.
“They’re operating in trouble spots all over the world,’’ said Kevin Lapwood, an analyst with Seymour Pierce Research in London. “They’re in Afghanistan, they’re operating in Iraq, they’re operating in Somalia. They’re in Sudan.’’
In recent years, red24 and security firms like it have built something of a niche industry by offering their services to corporations, governments, and others who can pay large sums to extract people from disaster zones or war-torn regions.
Red24, for example, charges companies a monthly retainer premium and in the event of a disaster or threat, it accesses a database of security specialists worldwide who act as contractors and conduct the actual missions.
“We call it the contingency operations industry,’’ said Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association in Washington, which represents about 60 companies worldwide that offer a range of relief services, including the quick delivery of field hospital set-ups, off-road vehicles, and construction equipment to help save lives in the immediate aftermath of disasters like the Haiti quake.
Another private security and rescue firm, Boston-based Global Rescue, is searching for hundreds of people in Haiti, some of whom work for corporations. Chief executive Daniel Richards said an insurance company asked it to find 200 people, but he declined to provide specifics.
The first Global Rescue team, led by a former Navy SEAL and a member of the US Army’s Special Forces, arrived in Haiti Thursday, Richards said, and the company expects to have 30 people on the ground by this morning. Richard said his clients include NASA, the State Department, the Chicago Tribune, and local companies Bain & Co. and EMC Corp.
EMC, whose 40,000 employees around the world are covered by Global Rescue when out of their country of origin, has been a client for two years. The Hopkinton data storage company has used Global Rescue’s services about 10 times for medical emergencies, including to assist an employee who had a cardiac condition, said spokesman Patrick Cooley.
International SOS Assistance, a Philadelphia-based security firm, has about 60 clients in Haiti, according to Erin Giordano, its communications director, including 11 universities.
She said that company policy prevented her from identifying clients, which also include private companies, but added that many university students were in Haiti to study public health at the time of the earthquake.
The company dispatched two security specialists to Haiti Tuesday night, just after the quake, to link up with staff in the country. They immediately began searching for missing clients and planning evacuations. “We are in the heat of it now,’’ she said, adding that as of last night the company was working 100 separate cases.
Lynn University officials said yesterday evening that they had hired a second company to assist in their search and recovery efforts. They would not identify the company by name, but an official at International SOS, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said it was working with the school.
Meanwhile, Britney Gengel’s father, Leonard, appeared on television yesterday and implored President Obama to send more rescue workers to Haiti.
“Father to father, I’m pleading with you to please, please get help and rescue to these folks,’’ he said, his voice breaking.
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Comment by headjundi — Saturday, January 16, 2010 @ 1:35 AM