Guard opens fire outside Walter Reed

[Andrewtx]

WASHINGTON -- An armed security guard at Walter Reed Army Medical Center opened fire at another guard Wednesday outside a busy entrance to the hospital, police said. No one was injured.

The guards had been arguing at about 8:30 a.m. when one of them fired as many as 10 shots, Lt. Jimmie Riley said.

The other guard, who was not hit, ran to a nearby house to call police, Riley said. The guard who fired the shots was taken into custody.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation..._Shooting.html


I wonder what private contractor they're using. I have to say that I was very surprised to find how extensively private contractors are used for security in the DC area, particularly for sensitive federal and otherwise high profile buildings. Many of the guards appear extremely apathetic and poorly trained, though that may be unfair to some of them and I don't have first hand knowledge of their training. Nonetheless, the disparity between, for example, the Capitol Police and USSS-UD and the majority of private contractors is plain as day.

Shouldn't a security guard at Walter Reed have an immediate means of contacting the police??

[lewisipso]

???

[Beans]

WTF?

[conalabu]

I thought those guys were VA police?

[rob84]

Real mature....

[TXPO710]

All the DoD stuff is private contractors now. Air Force has them on the gates, Army has them in the full roll replacing the MPs. Sign of the times.

[TXCharlie]

Maybe they use private contractors to get around the stupid Federal employment rules that I was talking about earlier (which require Federal employees to join the Federal Retirement system and be 39 years old or less)???

[chris2001]

There is a guy on this forum that actually does what the MP's use to do. He can tell you more about it than I can. Can't think of his name on here though hopefully he will chime in.

[Andrewtx]

According to another article they worked for Vance Federal Security Services. The Army says they're trained to the same standards as civilian DOD-employed guards. I don't think they're of the same stripe as the private security guards I tend to see around DC, but it certainly makes you wonder if they're evaluated nearly as thoroughly as they ought to be.

Article about the private contractors providing security at military installations:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...5/ai_n10980043

[Willowdared]

Maybe they use private contractors to get around the stupid Federal employment rules that I was talking about earlier (which require Federal employees to join the Federal Retirement system and be 39 years old or less)???

It's all about money.

Private contractors can charge more money for the service, the contractor can pay minimum wage, and they can then donate more money to political campaigns.

[SANDMAN]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation..._Shooting.html


I wonder what private contractor they're using. I have to say that I was very surprised to find how extensively private contractors are used for security in the DC area, particularly for sensitive federal and otherwise high profile buildings. Many of the guards appear extremely apathetic and poorly trained, though that may be unfair to some of them and I don't have first hand knowledge of their training. Nonetheless, the disparity between, for example, the Capitol Police and USSS-UD and the majority of private contractors is plain as day.

Shouldn't a security guard at Walter Reed have an immediate means of contacting the police??

Most guards like this for private security firms that are looking after govnerment buildings have to either be ex military with over 4yrs in service and and honorable discharge or ex pd with 3yrs otj.

[Andrewtx]

Most guards like this for private security firms that are looking after govnerment buildings have to either be ex military with over 4yrs in service and and honorable discharge or ex pd with 3yrs otj.

Interesting. I certainly hope that's the case for any military installation. I looked up the info on the Vance website and it didn't mention those criteria.

[Andrewtx]

A little further research yielded the following 2006 report conducted by the Government Accountability Office. Extremely concerning items in bold.



http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06284.pdf

Highlights of GAO-06-284, a report to congressional requesters

The Army’s three-phased approach for acquiring contract security guards has relied heavily on sole-source contracts, despite the Army’s recognition early on that it was paying considerably more for its sole-source contracts than for those awarded competitively. The Army has devoted twice as many contract dollars—nearly $495 million—to its sole-source contracts as to its competed contracts and has placed contract security guards at 46 out of 57 installations through sole-sourcing. These sole-source contracts were awarded to two Alaska Native corporation firms under the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program. Congress has provided these firms with special advantages in the 8(a) program. During initial planning, the Army worked with a contractor who had not performed guard services before to refine the contract performance work statement.

The Army’s procedure for screening prospective contract guards is inadequate and puts the Army at risk of having ineligible guards protecting installation gates. The Army found that, at two separate installations, a total of 89 guards were put to work even though they had records relating to criminal offenses, including cases that involved assault and other felonies. Thorough background checks lag far behind the rate at which contract guards are put to work, and the initial screening process relies on prospective guards to be honest when filling out job application forms. In response to an earlier GAO report, DOD agreed to revise its antiterrorism standards to put into place a better mechanism for verifying the trustworthiness of contractors.

[Cst.SB]

WTF, you guys don't shoot at each other??? Come on, aren't you being hard on the security guards?

Just the other day my Cpl and I were trade rounds in the office. Bastard blew away my cell phone.

Ok, back to reality. Was this a domestic?