Feral Jundi

Friday, May 4, 2012

Industry Talk: KBR In Bidding To Privatize British Police Forces

Filed under: Industry Talk,Law Enforcement,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 5:37 PM

This is an interesting one, just because of the shock that the British press is having about KBR getting involved with the bidding. But of course, this is the British office of KBR bidding on this, and that is why they are able to participate. But check out this title of an article written in the Guardian.

Guantánamo Bay contractor on shortlist to run UK police services

US firm KBR, which helped build detention camp, among consortiums bidding to run police services in West Midlands and Surrey

Now that is funny.  Really emphasize the fact that KBR built that prison…Dorks. From the same article, here is a statement from KBR.

“KBR is not involved in policing, our objective in the privatisation of the police force is to get more police doing actual police work while KBR brings operational efficiencies to the back office with the objective of achieving an overall lower cost of service while improving service levels,” said a spokesman. “We are an operational support company whose capabilities are transferable to critical, uniformed, command-led environments such as the police.”

Not only that, but I don’t see the US press having a fit when Aegis (the US branch) bids and gets US contracts. Hell, they won a massive contract in the early days of Iraq, funded by US tax dollars, and that is what put Aegis on the map.lol Or how about the Embassy in Afghanistan contract (KESF contract, and check out news about it at SOCNET), which is currently in the process of transitioning from AGNA to Aegis. Aegis of course is owned by Tim Spicer of Sandline fame, and that company had history too–just like KBR.

So with that said, I wish KBR luck and I certainly hope the bidding process and following contracts give these British police forces a good service. I also wish Aegis good luck with the US embassy contract. –Matt

 

US military-industrial giant KBR in bidding to privatize British police forces
May 02, 2012
Giant US military-industrial company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice of a controversial £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London) Times reported.

Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme in the UK, it has been suggested the private companies who win the contract will be tasked to perform several police functions — including patrols, detention and criminal investigation.

KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton group, has attracted its share of criticism over the large contracts it won with the US government during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The corporation also helped to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

The Times reported that it was among four groups shortlisted to win the British police contract, a number whittled down from more than 200.

A KBR spokesman said its bid was the first time the corporation had attempted to get involved in regular policing.

(more…)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Law Enforcement: Dozens Of Firms Register Interest In £1.5bn UK Police Support Contracts

Filed under: Industry Talk,Law Enforcement,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 2:40 PM

Chris Sims, the West Midlands chief constable, said: “This is not about taking away the core responsibility for policing away from officers. I want to be clear that where a police power is needed a police officer will carry out that duty.
“The backbone of the service will remain unchanged but we are committed to finding a long-term transformational solution that is more cost-effective and improves the service we deliver,” said Sims.
“Our values remain at the heart of the service and our priority is to put the public first in everything we do.”

I will have to warn you that this is a Guardian article. lol But if you can look beyond that, this is interesting news. There is much debate going on about this, and it is a classic public versus private debate. You can also see that the unions are rallying around how dangerous of an idea this is and really pushing the narrative of that.

Personally, I think it is a great idea. Because this looks more like a public private partnership than a complete privatization of police work in the UK. The duties these companies will be performing are totally in line with what private industry can accomplish and accel at. Just look at what Bruce Power SWAT accomplished?  Look at how massively large and successful G4S is?  In both cases, private security and related administrative duties can definitely provide value to the client.

Best of all, these police departments can fire a company if it is a poor performer or if they violated the contract. A private company has incentive to do well in that kind of environment and they will fight to do it better/faster/cheaper than the next guy. That versus a government force who has no ‘real’ incentive to perform well–because there is no one that competes with them. Check it out.

My one bit of advice for these police departments is to ensure they have a strong contracting officer corps that can monitor and manage these contracts to the fullest extent. A contracting corps armed with a contract and policy that answers as many of the issues of principal agent problem as possible. That means having folks dedicated to holding these private companies accountable and ensuring the tax payer and local community does in fact get a good value for their pound sterling. –Matt

 

Police privatisation: dozens of firms register interest in £1.5bn contract
Surrey and West Midlands forces invite bids for services including investigating crimes and detaining suspects
By Alan Travis
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Delegates from private security companies were attending a “bidders’ conference” on Tuesday for a £1.5bn contract to run a wide range of policing services in the West Midlands and Surrey.
The contract notice drawn up for the groundbreaking contract invites bids from the private sector for services that include investigating crimes, detaining suspects and managing high-risk offenders.
The widely drawn West Midlands/Surrey contract notice says that all those services that can “be legally delegated to the private sector” have been put on the table while “preserving the integrity of the office of constable”.
The West Midlands police authority says there are “many household names” among the 64 firms but has declined to name any of them. Potential bidders will hear both chief constables and the outgoing chairmen of the West Midlands and Surrey police authorities detail the procurement process and outline what they hope to achieve from the “business partnership programme”.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Law Enforcement: G4S To Run First Private Security Police Station In Britain

Filed under: Law Enforcement,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 4:18 PM

During times of cut backs and austerity, these are the things that communities do in order to save. I have talked about such moves in the US, and it is interesting to see the same thing happen in other parts of the world.

Now what I would be curious is to see how much was saved, and what problems came up, a year from the implementation of the contract? This is a ten year deal, but the cost effectiveness should present itself within the first couple of years. Interesting stuff and we will see how it goes. –Matt

 

G4S to run first private security police station
20 Feb 2012
Private security company G4S is about to sign a deal which would see it building and staffing the first British police station run by a private security contractor.
The deal with Lincolnshire Police Authority – expected to be signed within days – represents the most radical outsourcing of law enforcement so far, according to a report last week in the Financial Times .
The contract will see G4S take over jobs previously handled by police officers including custody and ID duties (but with custody sergeants still on hand), control room staffing, town enquiry officers, the crime management bureau, the criminal justice unit and firearms licensing.
But Simon Reed, vice-chair of the Police Federation, told the FT that he had some reservations about the scheme, as private employees may not have the same enshrined sense of public duty as police officers.
“Our concern is the resilience of the companies doing this,” he said. “When we have national emergencies or unforeseen events, will they be able to bring their staff in to work long hours, regardless of what their contracts say?”
The police station move is part of a £200m contract with G4S over 10 years. Other police forces are said to be considering similar moves.

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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Jobs: Olympic Security Jobs With G4S, United Kingdom

Filed under: Jobs,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 8:06 AM

I thought I would put this out there for the guys across the pond. Although I am sure many have already heard about this and have acted accordingly. What is cool is that over at Close Protection World, it looks like representatives are looking for some security pros who can fill out management positions that pay a little better. The first post below describes what they are looking for and the pay. Use the email provided to send a CV or go to the forum itself to find out more information.

The other articles I posted below describe the enormity of the event. They have to fill 10,000 positions and get background checks on all of them. So lots of work is required to make sure that just the security force is squared away and actually ‘secure’. –Matt

 

Olympic Roles with G4S £12 – £17 Per Hour
3 Main roles are as follows:
Supervisor/Team Leader – £12 Per Hour
1 years security supervisor experience can be as a JNCO in the military.
This has been recruited for on this site and has had an amazing response.
Group Leader – £14 Per Hour
1 Years Management experience can be as a SNCO in the military.
Duty Manager – £17 Per Hour
1 Years Management experience, must have managed over 50 staff, can be SNCO in the military.
If any of these roles interest you please forward your CV to olympics@uk.g4s.com .

(more…)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Industry Talk: Body Of UK Security Contractor Turned Over To Embassy In Iraq

Filed under: Industry Talk,Iraq,Kidnap And Ransom,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 10:06 PM

The family can now get some closure and I am glad someone had the respect enough to finally hand over the body. It also looks like these captors killed him and his fellow guards as they were trying to escape. Back in those days, kidnapping usually turned into death by head cutting, and I am sure that is what was going through these guy’s minds at the time of escape. Rest in peace to the fallen and my heart goes out to the families and friends. –Matt

 

Alan McMenemy.

Body of UK hostage turned over to embassy in Iraq
January 20, 2012
The body of a British hostage kidnapped in Iraq in 2007 has been turned over to the U.K. Embassy in Baghdad, officials said Friday.
Alan McMenemy was one of five men kidnapped by Shiite militants in a daytime attack outside Baghdad’s Finance Ministry. McMenemy was part of a security detail guarding computer expert Peter Moore, who was released alive in 2010.
The bodies of the other bodyguards — Jason Swindlehurst, Jason Creswell and Alec MacLachlan — were returned in 2009.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement Friday that his thoughts were with McMenemy’s family and friends.
“They have waited so long for his return and I hope that this will allow them to find some peace after an ordeal that no family should ever have to suffer,” Cameron said.
The statement did not provide any detail as to how or under what circumstances McMenemy’s body was returned. He was long believed to be dead, and a second statement released on behalf of McMenemy’s widow Roseleen said that his body’s return “will allow us to properly grieve for him … we will draw some comfort from the fact that we have him home at last.”
Story here.

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