Wackenhut

The Wackenhut Corporation is a United States-based private security and investigation firm, and is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Wackenhut was founded in 1954, in Coral Gables, Florida, by George Wackenhut and three partners, all former FBI agents. After early struggles — including a fistfight between Wackenhut and one of his partners — he took sole control of the company in 1958, naming it for himself. After working all day in the office, he sometimes worked as a security guard at night. By 1964, he had contracts to guard the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as well as the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear test site in Nevada; the company had an initial public offering the next year. In the mid-1960s, Florida Governor Claude Kirk commissioned Wackenhut to help fight the "war on organized crime"; this $500,000 contract lasted about a year and led to more than 80 criminal indictments, including many local politicians and government employees. [citation|author=Fisk, Kiesling, Herbert Kiesling, and Thomas Muller|year=1978|pages=34|title=Private Provision of Public Services: An Overview|publisher=Urban Institute] In 2002, the company was purchased by Danish corporation Group 4 Falck (now Group 4 Securicor) for $570 million. At the time, the company operated in 54 countries, had $2.8 billion in revenue, and its founder still controlled more than 50% of its stock.

The company has supplied complete police services at the Tampa Airport and predeparture security at several other airports, as well as security for courthouses in Texas and Florida, armed patrols for the Miami Downtown Development Authority, guards to ride the Miami Metro Rail and the Tri-Rail from West Palm Beach to Dade County, and so on. The State of Florida also contracted with Wackenhut to provide security at all state rest stops, following the murder of a British tourist at a rest stop in 1993.

In addition to security, Wackenhut also provides fire and rescue services to some clients, including the Kennedy Space Center.

Wackenhut and private prisons

Having expanding into providing food services for prisons in the 1960s, Wackenhut in 1984 launched a subsidiary to design and manage jails and detention centers for the burgeoning private prison market in the United States and abroad. Wackenhut became the nation's second-largest for-profit prison operator. Although the corrections branch of Wackenhut was financially successful, critics claimed the company's guards abused inmates in Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana.

In 1999, Wackenhut was stripped of a $12-million-a-year contract in Texas and fined $625,000 for failing to live up to promises in the running of a state jail after several guards were indicted for having sex with female inmates. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, five guards at a Wackenhut work-release facility were fired or punished for having sex with inmates. In April 1999 the state of Louisiana took over the running of Wackenhut's 15-month-old juvenile prison after the U.S. Justice Department accused Wackenhut of subjecting its young inmates to "excessive abuse and neglect." In the same year a New Mexico legislative report called for a near-total revamp of prison operations, including two run by Wackenhut. U.S. journalist Gregory Palast commented on the case: "New Mexico's privately operated prisons are filled with America's impoverished, violent outcasts — and those are the guards." He catalogued lax background checks before hiring guards, which led to several alleged cases of guards physically and sexually abusing inmates. In the U.S., Wackenhut has appeared in the federal courts 62 times since 1999, largely resulting from prisoners' claims of human rights abuses. The company has been accused of trying to maximise profits in its private prisons at the expense of drug rehabilitation, counselling and literacy programs. In 1995 Wackenhut was investigated for diverting $700,000 intended for drug treatment programs at a Texas prison.

Among other facilities, Wackenhut subsidiary Australasian Correctional Management (ACM) operated the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, which opened in 1999 and was closed in 2003 after allegations of widespread abuse of refugee claimants. In a documentary screened on Special Broadcasting Service in 2000, George Wackenhut welcomed Australia's immigrant detention policies, saying, "(Australia is) really starting to punish people, as they should have done all along."

Wackenhut describes itself as no longer involved in the private prison industry in the US, stating that it abandoned the market due to low returns on investment, excessive government regulation, and negative publicity affecting its other, more profitable operations. The GEO Group, Inc. now runs former Wackenhut facilities in 14 states, as well as in South Africa and Australia. Some facilities, such as the Wackenhut Corrections Centers in New York, retain the Wackenhut name despite no longer having any open connection with the company.

Wackenhut and the CIA

Frequent rumors that his company was in the employ of the Central Intelligence Agency, particularly in the 1960s, were never substantiated, but Wackenhut, who was obsessive about high-tech security gadgets in his private life, did not discourage the suggestion. Several of his senior executives were former CIA operatives, and his company's board of directors included former FBI director Clarence M. Kelley, former National Security Agency director Bobby Ray Inman, and former Defense secretary and deputy CIA director Frank Carlucci. On rare occasions, the company's clandestine work did land in the headlines. In 1991, a U.S. House of Representatives committee investigated charges that a Wackenhut executive, working for a consortium of oil companies, illegally spied on a whistleblower, former independent oil executive Chuck Hamel, exposing environmental damage caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill [http://www.xs4all.nl/~evel/n5m/sheilatxt.html] . The executive, who had also discussed trying to implicate a California congressman in his sting, resigned immediately after a meeting with George Wackenhut.

Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station

In September 2007, former employee Kerry Beal videotaped fellow security guards at the Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station sleeping while on duty (albeit in a ready room). Beal had previously tried to notify supervisors at Wackenhut and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Wackenhut was fired from its role guarding Peach Bottom and nine other nuclear plants. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010304442.html?sub=AR Washington Post: Video of Sleeping Guards Shakes Nuclear Industry] ]

Wackenhut overbilled Miami-Dade by six million dollars

In May 2008, an audit from Miami-Dade County found that Wackenhut had overbilled the county for up to six million dollars over three years for non-existing security guards at Metrorail stations and along bus routes, and tried to cover this up using inaccurate and falsified records,including payment to officers for ghost posts. Officers were paid and asked to sign in so management could bill the county , even though the hours were never worked. Numerous people have been fired/suspended by Wackenhut, including the Project Managers, Elijah Pendelton and Gerald Lepore, along with Major Kaslick, Major Holmes, Major Mora, Major Alverado, Major Colon and Major Pereira have all been relieved of duties with TWC for their part in the conspiracy and cover ups of fraud against the County. Indictments are now pending to be released soon and is expected to include high level County employees that processed these fraudulent invoices and allegedly through confidential sources close to the investigation stated, they all received kickbacks, some say to the tune of $100,000 dollars. The company disputed the audit, but has fired/suspended at least 8 management employees as of 28 May 2008 on the metro Rail Contract including, investigating of the current contract manager of TWC who is a recently retired Miami-Dade Police captain now working for Wackenhut metro rail, Mr Dennis Shaw. A call to his office resulted in a typical, " I can't comment at this time due to company Policy" . The Public corruption unit and the FBI and A.M.S have worked very hard on this case and a final outcome is near, including Grand Jury indictments and TWC losing the 92 million dollar contract and being banned from all future Miami-Dade contracts according to the Mayor, Mr. Carlos Alvarez, a former retired Miami Dade Police Director. It has been suggested to return police Officers to replace the Wackenhut guards who are now there. ... [ [http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/526625.html Miami Herald: Wackenhut overbilled Dade millions] ]

References

* Minahan, John. The Quiet American: A Biography of George R. Wackenhut. International Publishing Group (September 1994) ISBN 0-9639395-0-5
* Palast, Greg (2002). "." Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-1846-0.
* [http://www.eyeonwackenhut.com/ Eye On Wackenhut]
* [http://www.blogofdeath.com/archives/001280.html Obituary of George Wackenhut from Blog of Death]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54899-2005Jan6.html Obituary of George Wackenhut from the Washington Post]
* [http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2001/450/450p15.htm Wackenhut: Prisons, profits and golf umbrellas]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010304442.html?sub=AR Video of Sleeping Guards Shakes Nuclear Industry]

External links

* [http://www.g4s.com/usw Official website]