DC Council Asks Mayor To Not Renew Contract of Security Company

WASHINGTON - All 13 members of the D.C. City Council are asking the Mayor not to renew the contract of the company providing security at D.C. Schools and government buildings.

The Council members in a letter, signed by all 13, say the company is so poorly run that it is putting public safety at risk.

They cite that investigators were able to penetrate security at schools and government buildings, by slipping weapons past guards, as one of the reasons to drop the contract.

U.S. Security Associates of Roswell, Georgia bills itself as the most trusted security company in the business. But the thirteen elected members of the Council say they have lost confidence in the firm. In a letter to the District's Chief Procurement Officer, the council members complain U.S. Security Associates has, “a history of questionable conduct and discrimination complaints, including two lawsuits by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a recent $2.5 million jury verdict for sexual harassment and retaliation, as well as sizeable wage and hour litigation.”

In an interview at the Wilson Building Tuesday, Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser told FOX 5, "We want to make sure that the types of security that's provided in our buildings is the best of the best, so we want to make sure that agencies, just like other contracts, have in place qualified companies to protect our citizens in the District.”

"I think it does make sense to have a review based on what I've heard, said Ward 1 Councilmemeber Jim Graham. “This company has not worked very well for the people of the District of Columbia.”

Attorney General Peter Nickles says he is aware of the Council's concerns and is now conducting a review of the company and the contract.

"My understanding is since the security lapses and then the training, there have been no additional security lapses,” said Nickles. “So I want to test that to see if that in fact has been the case.”

Nickles says back in May, investigators used creative ways to get undisclosed objects past security and into buildings.

U.S. Security issued a statement which reads in part: "We recently conducted training sessions with our security officers to review General Training, Magnetometer Training, Anti-Terrorism Training and Customer Service Training. We believe that we have since seen improvement and that there have been many positive performance examples that our Security Officers have demonstrated.”

Two Council members, Tommy Wells and Jack Evans, said they didn't know enough about the issue to comment on camera, even though they both signed the letter.

The letter from the Council was first brought to FOX 5’s attention by SEIU, the union that represents security guards.

Nickles says he will decide within a few weeks whether to renew or scrap the current contract.