PROTECTION: PAY YOUR MONEY, TAKE YOUR CHANCE

We are a nation of shirkers. We collectively shirk our responsibility to protect and care for each other. We have no ligitimate excuse. We have reaped the consequences. The public trust has been ravaged by unspeakable government misfeasance. Scandal is the civic norm. We, in our naive folly, increasingly opt for the "lesser evil." Sometimes, that's exactly what we get. Privatization of public responsibility metastasizes through out society. Reliance on government contracts has so ravaged the private sector that no employee feels secure. Public reliance on government protection has so corrupted society that we can no longer depend on each other for even common courtesy, let alone mutual aid. Mass media mind control more or less sucessfully shifts the blame for our mutual socio-pathology onto relatively defenseless scapegoats. We suffer ever more greatly as these trends feed on each other, and on us. We who refuse to care for each other have been bankrupted and left to die by an avaricious and uncaring medical system. We who refuse to clean up after ourselves are choking on each other's fumes. We who refuse to teach each other are dragged back from an otherwise promising future by the collective ignorance that our education system so lovingly nurtures. We who refuse to protect each other are at the mercy of a legal system whose very business is crime. And a lucrative business it is.

By this point in history, all but the most naive of us have stopped expecting cops, public or private, to all behave like Boy Scouts. There has been simply too much evidence to the contrary. In the gray and murky zone where law enforcement overlaps with organized crime, an underground empire has arisen. It is a world where the so-called "War on Drugs" is often a war on rival drug dealers, and always a war on the poor. It is a world where "National Security," excuses war crimes and genocide is a salable commodity. It is a world where justice is for sale and cops are for rent.

A family business, Wackenhut Corp., was founded by one time FBI man George R. Wackenhut, in 1954. His son Richard, a Citadel graduate, is president and CEO. The immediate family hold over 50% of the stock The rest is divided among just 1100 stockholders. Wackenhut stock is traded on the New York Stock exchange. Buy a share, and you will receive a fascinating brochure. The company's revenue has grown from just $300,000 in 1958 to nearly half a billion today. It is one of the largest private security firms in existence.

Wackenhut specializes in security contracts. Government contracts are best, of course, and the company's remarkable growth is due on no small part to George Wackenhut's relationship to certain government officials. His first big break came when he secured a contract to watch over Titan missile sites in four states. Since then, security and public safety functions have proven a lucrative focus. Wackenhut provides security guards for such high-risk installations as the trans-Alaska pipelines, major airports both in the United States and abroad, dams and the nuclear test site in Nevada. It also owns a casualty reinsurance firm, a travel service, and an airline services company. The Department of energy provides 25% of Wackenhut's total gross. Their operatives also serve friends of the U. S. Govt. and Big Oil (like the fugitive Shah of Iran), abroad as well as at home.

Wackenhut personnel guard the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve Sites in Louisiana and Texas. From time to time, they can be seen around the complexes, dodging alligators, and exchanging laser gunfire with soldiers, local police and sheriff's deputies. This is just practice to prepare for real trouble, such as terrorists. Wackenhut touts it's supposed anti-terrorist expertise. James P. Davis, who manages the site for government contractor Boeing, declares: "I pity anybody who tries to invade here. It would be tougher than Fort Knox." That is arguable. The government itself concedes that the security could be beefed up. But the analogy to Fort Knox is fitting. There is gold here, too, only it's black. Always remember the Golden Rule: "Gold rules."

Wackenhut often recruits ex-police and military men who don'trequire a fresh background check. Cutting this corner (at $30,000 to $40,000 apiece) has allowed the employment of a number of unsavory characters, including infamous navy spy John Walker. Therein lies a tale or few. When Wackenhut operatives were caught recently in the public spotlight by court allegations of illegal surveillance, Associated Press reports that they were staunchly defended by their employer in the case, the president of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., James B. Hermiller. Alyeska is a consortium of seven oil companies including Exxon Corp. owners of the Exxon Valdez. They are also long time Wackenhut clients. During the spill, industry security mounted an armed "bear patrol" to "keep grizzlies from rolling in the contaminated sand." They kept potential witness from the spill scene. Alyeska lies about clean up. Contaminants--including carcinogens such as benzene and toxic materials such as heavy metals--are ending up in the waters and sediments of Port Valdez, state studies have confirmed. Happy dining, crab lovers They also lie about the carcinogen content of the atmospheric pollution they inflict on their neighbors. Breath deep, Valdez.

Few of it's victims are surprised that Big Oil lies. Internal documents to that effect (and worse) were leaked by Aleyska employees to long time industry gad-fly (and professional tanker broker) Charles Hamel The whistle blowing employees were afraid to let their names be used. Charley Hamel was not. At least one regulatory action, a $20,000 fine proposed by the EPA last August against Alyeska for illegal waste-water dumping, is attributable to information provided by Hamel.

One former employee, Robert Scott, has filed a complaint with the U.S. Labor Department charging that Alyeska illegally fired him for leaking information that detailed problems with vapor-emission.

"This is not a knock down and kill you problem," says Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist and president of the Oil Reform Alliance, a coalition of fishing and environmental groups in Alaska. "It's more like a 20 year from now cancer problem."

Cancer is not the only problem in this case. Public trust is at issue. Disinformation is a cancer in our body politic. Can Wackenhut's public relations department be trusted to tell the truth? Their track record, and that of their clients, tell the tale.

Company officials claim that Alyeska is committed to operating in an environmentally sound manner. But environmentalists, state and even federal officials and other observers differ. Privy employees agree. Alyeska has been a major source of water, air and soil pollution in Alaska. Wackenhut Corp. has been (at least) a witting accomplice, both during and after the fact. They have worked to conceal disturbing truths from Congress, law enforcement, and the public. They have perpetuated dangerous lies. They hired Wackenhut to help cover them up. Wackenhut certainly gave it a try.

As disturbing as the cover-up itself, allegations have surfaced in court that Alyeska has pursued an aggressive campaign of spying and covert operations aimed at ferreting out internal whistle-blowers and silencing outside opponents. Their main tool in this undertaking has been Wackenhut Corp. Three of five dissident Wackenhut employees allege that even Rep. George Miller (D-California), chairman of the House committee that oversees environment and resource development issues was targeted for "dirty tricks" when he began investigating alleged environmental wrongdoing by Alyeska, according to sources and sworn court statements. Miller became incensed to the point of subpoena. His committee began investigating the possibility that Wackenhut may have obstructed Congress, as well. Alyeska, as well as Wackenhut denies any wrongdoing. But for some, the alleged black-bag operation conjures up disquieting echoes of the past, and uneasy foreboding about the future. One honest (and prudent) cop, Rafael Castillo, a thirty year veteran of city, county, state, and federal police work left Wackenhut rather than expose himself to the possibility of criminal prosecution and a ruined career. Twice he had confronted superiors on the matter, to no avail. He had no honorable choice but to quit. He did, reputation intact.

Sworn court statements and interviews with sources familiar with the probe, portray a conspiracy of electronic surveillance, lies, phony offices, burglaries and other questionable behavior aimed at silencing critics. With one side of it's mouth, Alyeska has denied the charges. With the other side, Alyeska assigned Wackenhut the task of rooting out the sources.. Wackenhut began by attempting to backtrack from Hamel. In a sworn statement in U.S. District Court in Houston one former Wackenhut employee stated that the company's special investigations division conducted illegal electronic surveillance of Hamel's home, searched his garbage, obtained his telephone records and attempted to furnish him with large amounts of cash.

The employee, whose name was blacked out in the court file, said Wackenhut agents also masqueraded as news reporters and environmentalists. Hamel agrees. They also steal garbage. He caught them on video tape. They got a parking ticket while inside bugging his house. These are not exactly what you could call rocket scientist types. They were beaten at their own game by an amateur. It can be done. Wackenhut also set up a phony environmental group, called Ecolit, with offices near Hamel's home. This was part of a 17 person "special investigation unit" created by Wayne Black. Black described it in an interview with the Washington Post as a "private FBI." Black had once been a criminal investigator for the Dade County prosecutor. According to the Anchorage Daily News, he had been suspended for illegally conducting a wire tap and pressuring witnesses. Despite, or perhaps because of (we'll never know) the efforts of a special prosecutor, he managed to squirm out of the charges. A month later he went into private practice. In 1989, the Village Voice reports, his firm was purchased by Wackenhut. He's their kind of guy. He told Hamel his name was Dr. Wayne Jenkins, a staff researcher for Ecolit. At one point, Hamel was told that real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump was on Ecolit's board of directors. For a while, Hamel fell for it. Then his garbage started disappearing. His suspicions aroused, he set a trap with his trusty camcorder. It worked.

On occasion, Wackenhut also delivers garbage. One operative, identifying herself as an environmental journalist, tried to "befriend" Hamel in an Anchorage hotel bar in March, 1990, and later on an airline flight. Her aim was to discover Hamel's sources and also to "compromise him" in some way, court statements said. It didn't work.

Wayne Black was not a loose cannon. According to Castillo, Black kept Wackenhut security chief (and former head of Alaska's State Police) Pat Wellington abreast of his progress. Black has since been promoted. He is now vice-president of investigations for Wackenhut. Alyeska President James B. Hermiller said the company would cooperate fully with Miller's committee, but he has denied that Alyeska targeted Hamel for investigation. Hermiller declined to comment on the specific allegations in the court documents. But he did say, "Wackenhut is probably the premiere security firm in the world, and they do not do anything illegal. They conduct programs in a very professional and legal way."

Premier? Professional? Legal? The press presents a much different picture. In service to other less influential clients, Wackenhut has appeared on numerous occasions, to be the premier bunglers of the trade. Yet at other times they appear deadly efficient, and downright sinister. Wackenhut performs a wide variety of services, with widely varying efficiency.

One such service is union busting. The firm provides a comprehensive strike-breaking service. It includes armed protection, bedding, bath facilities and a catering service for scab labor. Clients of this particular service range from the Greyhound Corp. to Capital Cities (owner of ABC). Capital Cities was founded by reputedly deceased Director of Central Intelligence, William Casey, the alleged mastermind of the "October Surprise" and convenient scapegoat of Iran-Contra.

A poignant vignette of Wackenhut labor relations is found in SPOOKS The Haunting of America- The Private Use of Secret Agents ( . Author Jim Hougan recounts the dilemma of a certain Muldoon, hired by Wackenhut to guard publisher Katherine Graham and other executives of the Washington Post during a dispute with the pressmen. About twenty of Muldoon's spooks were given plainclothes assignments that placed them round the clock in the executive's living rooms. Muldoon remembered the awkwardness of the situation. "It was uncomfortable," he said, "These were really nice homes. The family would eat dinner, the kids would be playing-and there, sitting on the couch would be me or some other guy from the agency -- big, you know, and checking his gun. It was sorta tense. We didn't really fit in. I'll tell ya: some of those people were real shits about it. Katherine Graham wouldn't even let us in. She wanted my man to sit outside on a cot in the cold all night. I wouldn't let him. I mean, who the hell does she think she is?"

Meanwhile the pressmen bothered Muldoon even more. One morning he came home to find his car filled with garbage and a threat painted on his hood. Muldoon was furious. He "called a friend in New Jersey who's very well connected to both the unions and, well, organized crime. And I told him that I had a list of twelve union leaders here in Washington. If anyone fucked with me or my family or anything of mine, I was going to take out three of the bastards at the exact same time. As a warning. If anything else happened, I was going to hit the other nine-all at once. I told him I didn't care if those guys were responsible or not. I was holding them responsible and he'd better get the word out. I was not bullshitting either. I would have done it. I know guys inside the Agency, and guys who left, who could do that. And they would, too. I offered, as a demonstration, to abduct three of the union people and hold them for an hour -- just to show I was serious. But he took the hint. Nothing ever happened after that." Muldoon, smiling, admitted that such an abduction would have been "embarrassing" to the Post's publisher. He shrugged. "What the hell? If they can hit my car, they can hit my family." The Wackenhut Corporation boasts widely of its sophisticated (sic) "strike service." Employing them placed the liberal Katherine Graham in some very strange company indeed. The immense private intelligence service relies on dossiers of the Church League of America, a right-wing think tank whose massive "intelligence files" on the "left" surely included volumes about Mrs. Graham herself. In 1971, six executives of Wackenhut, Pinkerton's, and Burns were found guilty of bribing New York City policemen to obtain confidential records of would-be employees of American and Trans-Caribbean Airlines. Hougan wonders why they needed to resort to bribes at all, since (as Rand Corporation reports) Wackenhut and Pinkerton's -- never mind Burns -- have dossiers on more than four million Americans.

Wackenhut sells "protection" to more than just media moguls. A look at how well, where, and when, they deliver presents a telling appraisal of their talent and intent. Far from "premier," they instill little confidence in their ability to protect even themselves against bunglers, turncoats, and law enforcement. Still less does Wackenhut's consistent corner cutting inspire confidence in it's ability to protect the lives and property of ordinary clients.

Wackenhut has proven repeatedly to be incapable of protecting the Nevada Nuclear Test site from the intrusion of pacifist protesters in peace time. They perform better in the brochure than they do on the ground. Under the scrutiny of the press, the "premier" track record of Wackenhut's much vaunted and ballyhooed "protection" business has been repeatedly exposed to be far more apparent that real. During the recent Gulf War, Wackenhut's impotence was driven home by terrorists. February 6, 1991 the Los Angeles Times reported that "guerrillas opposed to the U.S. role in the Persian Gulf War" blew up a car outside the offices of Pesevisa, the Peruvian subsidiary of Wackenhut, which is under contract to provide security for the U.S. and Canadian embassies in Lima. Three security guards were killed. Seven other people were seriously injured, authorities said. In a drive-by attack, assailants threw at least 22 pounds of dynamite and fired machine-gun bursts at three diplomats' cars parked in front of the company, police said. The explosion left a large crater in front of the company, blew out windows outside the office. Leaflets condemning American involvement and attributed to the pro-Cuban Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement were left at the scene. A U.S. Embassy spokesman in Lima said the attack was directed at Pesevisa, though Tupac Amaru guerrillas also attacked the U.S. Embassy twice that week and dynamited the North American Cultural Institute the previous November. Wackenhut guards have also died in line of duty in El Salvador. The "premier" protection business seems hard pressed to "protect" themselves, let alone clients. What would Muldoon say?

In fairness, it must be emphasized that in 1986, when Wackenhut Corp. announced the creation of an anti-terrorism division headed by former agents of the FBI, CIA and State Department, the director of the new division stated specifically that it would not provide "rent-a-commandos" but would instead provide "training" on how to survive a terrorist attack. The anti-terrorism and crisis management division would be for hire to "advise" corporations or governments, said Richard R. Wackenhut, "This is a new corporate division to deal (sic) not only with the threat of terrorism but with a major industrial accident, hostage taking or any other crisis facing an organization,"

The L.A. Times reported that in 1985, the increasing fear of terrorism had boosted the already growing security business significantly, citing a 25% increase in 1984 of clients for Wackenhut's executive protection division, provider bodyguards and "other" security services in 28 countries. Revenue was up 16% said Matt Kenny, director of corporate communications. The greater the number of terrorist incidents, what ever their source, the greater the demand is for "protection." One con not help but wonder if some incidents are covert operations by private security aimed at drumming up business.

"We are aiming at some U.S. government contracts," said Conrad V. Hassel, the director of the new division. Hassel had previously served as chief of special operations for the research unit of the FBI for part of his 23-year career with that agency, and so presumably knew where to peddle his wares. Hassel foresaw embassy security as one potential marketplace, adding that Wackenhut already posted guards at five U.S. embassies.

"There's no way we're going to be rent-a-commandos," Hassel said, "We're not going to put a force together to storm any airplanes."

Instead Hassel predicted the new division would provide training for clients and their families who might be targets of terrorism. "We will try to instruct them how to survive over there, but we're not going to train them how to become 'Rambos' and kick their way out of a room," he said. Training would include discussions by former hostages, and focus on psychological preparedness, such as teaching potential victims to humanize themselves in the eyes of their captors. "The terrorists are reacting against a symbol of what they are fighting against," he said. "Once you become human, it becomes damn hard to kill you." This bit of brilliant wisdom was marketed to customers from among the company's 15,000-member base of clients as well as to the United States and certain unnamed foreign governments.

Lack of proper training has been a Wackenhut trademark for years. The reduction in cost provided by cutting this corner enables Wackenhut to deliver their admittedly "reduced services" at substantial savings to organizations and individuals who value a penny saved over the lives of their employees, customers, families. The spate of terrorist attacks against Americans and their allies, during the Gulf War included some pesky snipers in Saudi Arabia. Was the House of Saud safe? According to the Jonathan Littman , the Saudi ruling family negotiated, at least, with Wackenhut over a contract for security at Crown Prince Fahd's palace itself. Whether Wackenhut delivered or not is not for commoners to know. These negotiations took place by way of the tiny (but sovereign) band of Cabazon Indians in Southern California. The Cabazons have also allegedly fronted for Wackenhut's role in the secret (and illegal) Contra supply scam. Wackenhut as well as the Cabazons prefer the term "joint venture"

In 1978 the Cabazons hired a certain John Philip Nichols to manage their finances. This self (and falsely) proclaimed "Doctor of Theology" was reputed to be a "premier" grant obtainer. Once he had obtained the Cabazons' trust, Nichols began proposing an array of projects involving tank cartridges, laser-sighted assault rifles, portable rocket systems, night vision goggles, and, most ominously, biological weapons. Many of these proposals grew out of the tribe's partnership with Wackenhut. The Cabazons' sovereign status, and it's accompanying freedom from costly regulation, enables great ease in the bidding process.

"I was present at one meeting where Wackenhut people were present. We were told it was part of the security system on the reservation," said Cabazon Joe Benitez. "Later on, I found out they were working to develop munitions. It seemed amazing to me."

It is unclear which, if any, of the deals went through. It is a matter of court record, though, that in 1985, Nichols pleaded no contest to the charge of solicitation to murder. He served 18 months. His son, John Paul, took over as acting administrator of the Cabazons while his father did time. After his release, Nichols was barred by his felony record from running any of the reservation's gambling operations. His brother, Mark, inherited the position of Cabazon administrator. What, if any, role Wackenhut currently plays in Cabazon life is unclear. Wackenhut denies any. "It turned out that we never got any contracts and, after two years, the venture was canceled," claims director of public relations, Patrick Cannan (1-305-666-5656).

Cannan also denied any connection with the so-called "Inslaw case." Wackenhut's name has come up consistently in relation to claims made by Michael Riconoscuito that he, while a research director for a joint venture between Wackenhut and the Cabazon Indians, modified a stolen copy of Inslaw's PROMIS software for sale by Earl Brian to the Canadian government. Brian is a crony of former Attorney General, gutter of the Fourth Amendment, and Wedtech scandal principal, Edwin Meese. Brian is also a principal in the Inslaw case. Former US Attorney General Elliot Richardson, attorney for Inslaw, has been quoted that Inslaw "is far worse than Watergate." In fact, the Inslaw case makes Watergate look like a small town parking ticket fix. The press has barely scraped the surface of this most sordid of scandals. According to Jonathan Littman , Riconoscuito was a "consultant" for Wackenhut. According to Patrick Cannan, Riconoscuito. was a "hanger on."

The Inslaw case involves the alleged theft of software by the Justice Dept. from the Inslaw Corp. and, has grown from a title and bankruptcy case to one that includes allegations of sales of the software to foreign governments (such as Canada, Iraq, South Korea, Libya and Israel) by such Iran-Contra figures as Robert McFarlane and Richard Secord. The case attracted more public attention following the apparent suicide death of journalist Joseph D. "Danny" Casolaro on mid-August in a Martinsburg W. Va. motel room. Casolaro had told friends that he had made connections between Inslaw, Iran-Contra and the so-called "October Surprise" (allegations that representatives of the Reagan-Bush campaign team had convinced the Iranian government to delay release of American hostages until after the 1980 U.S. elections). Casolaro also allegedly told his brother, that, if he reportedly had an accident, it was not to be believed. Elliot Richardson has demanded a federal investigation of Casolaro's death.

Cannan also denied that William Casey was legal counsel to Wackenhut before joining the government and that former CIA officials Frank Carlucci and Admiral Bobby Ray Inman were Wackenhut directors. Cannan said, "Although Casey's law firm represented Wackenhut, Casey himself never had any connection with us. Carlucci was a director of the firm -- he is no longer -- but Inman was not. We did have another director with a similar background to Inman, an admiral who was chief of naval operations, and that might have lead to the incorrect rumor."

Plausible deniability has been an American tradition at least since the Boston Tea Party. "The Indians did it." Right. Sure. Tell us another one.

Fronts within fronts, is a standard modus operandi of Wackenhut. Wackenhut Corp. itself appears on occasion to be the collective front of a variety of felons and scofflaws. They hide behind a wall of omerta excused by "national security" and enforced by an old boy network rooted deep in the intelligence community. Scams also lie hidden behind the facade of ineptitude projected by their under-trained and under-paid employees. This has proved a somewhat less successful tactic. Wackenhut Corp. does not inspire a degree of "loyalty up," commensurate with the "loyalty down" they demand. Instead, they buy it. They buy it cheap. Loyalty bought is intrinsically fleeting. Loyalty bought cheap is fleeter still. The testimony of disgruntled former employees has damaged Wackenhut's reputation in court as well as the press.

Potential future employees sometimes take note, and act in advance. According to the Los Angeles Times, members of a state prison guards association picketed the American Correctional Assn. convention in San Diego on Tuesday, August 14, 1990, to protest the organization's unhealthy private-sector influence on public prison policy nationwide. The guards said such influence is manifested locally in the planned construction of a 200-bed pre-arraignment jail in the East Otay Mesa Correctional Complex, to be operated by Wackenhut Corrections Corp. through a joint San Diego city-county contract. The pickets, members of the California Correctional Peace Officer Assn., carried placards up and down the length of the San Diego Convention Center. While California law prohibits counties from contracting out the management of its jails to the private sector, the San Diego county counsel's office (not a Court of Law) had recently determined that the sheriff could contract for beds in the city's proposed jail. According to correctional officials, the Otay facility would be the first privately owned and operated jail in California. Just what we need. eh? How many more are in the works, one wonders?

Wackenhut operates 10 detention or correctional facilities in seven states that house 3,456 inmates. It's first facility, a federal Immigration and Naturalization Services detention center, opened in 1987. Within two years the correctional business generated about $25 million of Wackenhut's $462 million in 1989 revenue This is according to company spokesman, not independent auditors. Robert Hennelly reports in the Village Voice , that Wackenhut is also developing and marketing electronic systems for tracking prisoners under house arrest for local, state, and federal authorities.

According to the L. A. Times , Wackenhut does not "operate" any jails in California, but it does "run" a minimum security "correctional facility" for the state in McFarland, where parole violators are housed. This subtle distinction may be lost on those outside the profession. "Privatization is a slap in the face to corrections officers as professionals," said Jeff Doyle, a prison guard and CCPOA vice president. "It's irresponsible for government to turn this over to the private sector." Although Doyle acknowledged there is an element of self-protection among the state guards who are upset with privatization plans, he emphasized that the Wackenhut guards do not have the same level of training and experience that state corrections officers do. Pete Abrahano, the San Diego manager for Wackenhut, said the guards who will run the Otay Mesa facility, will be better trained than the rest of the company's guards. "They will have the necessary training and experience required by federal law," he said. "These will not be just regular guards."

Wackenhut's "just regular" guards are no strangers to informed San Diegans, at least not those who read the L.A. Times .When the Union-Tribune Publishing Co. brought in the Tennessee law firm King & Ballow to handle its contract negotiations, K&B fired all the U-T security guards and hired new guards from Wackenhut. Bringing in Wackenhut is standard procedure when K&B enters a newspaper labor dispute. The Newspaper Guild complains that the tactic is meant to intimidate employees.

When intimidation fails to do the trick, there's always the courts. Consider the case of murder victim Richard Crake, who met his demise in La Jolla in 1981. In 1985 a jury lodged $217,500 in compensatory damages against the Wackenhut Corporation, the security firm that guarded the complex where Crake lived. Before the trial, his widow, Kathryn Crake turned down an offer to settle the case for $1,375,000 from attorneys for the Wackenhut Corporation and it's co-defendants. Then Ken Grider, 32, of Los Angeles, alleging to have been Richard Crake's male lover, testified as a witness for the defendants about how much time Crake spent with him daily before he was killed. The defendants' attorneys argued that the Crake marriage was doomed because of the love affair and would not have survived had he lived. Compromising the reputation of their dead client failed to redeem that of the Wackenhut guards who bungled his protection. It is an aphorism of the trade that "dead clients don't pay." Whether their survivors collect what they are owed is a matter for the attorneys.

Wackenhut hires much better trained attorneys than guards. They need them. In August 1986 it took a 4th District Court of Appeal ruling just to gain a Los Angeles woman the mere right to sue Wackenhut Corp. and it's co-defendants. Florence Blakely was struck by a passenger gate blown open by a blast from a jet engine at John Wayne Airport, where Wackenhut provided the security. Judge Sonenshine, citing "human error" as a "further complication" found the gate dangerous, despite sworn statements from airport officials that there had been no prior reports of negligence by guards opening the gates. Gates are the business of guards.

Consider the case of survivor George Bagwell Jr., who sued futilely for redress in the wrongful death of his father. George Bagwell Sr., who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for years, drove to Lindbergh Field in January, 1988, thinking his son was due to arrive on a flight. Bagwell wandered into a security area and didn't respond when Harbor Police and Wackenhut Corp. security guards called to him. According to the lawsuit, guards beat and kicked Bagwell, in the course of his arrest. At the time of the incident, Bagwell was wearing a medical bracelet that explained his health problems, and he had further details about his condition inside his billfold. Bagwell's son said his father was about 130 pounds and 5-foot-7, hardly a threat.

The lawsuit said Bagwell suffered lacerations and injuries to the face, scalp, arms and body, which lead to his death in April, 1988. Medical experts testified at trial that the stress of the incident contributed to his death. He did not die in the guard's hands but died soon thereafter. Bagwell Jr. said the January 1991 verdict was a second disappointment, although the family has no misgivings. They have no redress either. Legal redress after the fact is not guaranteed in a contract with Wackenhut, a fact worthy of note by future contractors.

In San Diego, where the public employs Wackenhut to provide security for hospitalized prisoners at county hospitals, the L.A. Times reports one prisoner escaped in a wheelchair, kidnapping his guard in the process. Los Angeles and Orange counties use their own deputies to guard hospitalized prisoners. One of the reasons San Diego County Sheriff's Department uses Wackenhut is economics, said Sgt. Bob Takeshta, public affairs officer with the Sheriff's Department. "It's a pure fact of dollars and cents."

Sheriff's deputies are paid an average of $12 to $16 an hour for their services. Peter Abrahano, area manager for Wackenhut. declined to say how much his guards made per hour, except to say that they are paid less than sheriff's deputies.

To Takeshta's knowledge, the escape was not highly unusual. "This is not an isolated incident; there have been others," he said. Earlier that month, a narcotics suspect escaped from by jumping out a 4th floor window. Hospital guards are unarmed and do not wear uniforms, said Sheriff's Lt. Sylvester Washington, a shift watch commander at County Jail downtown. The Sheriff's Department "prefers it that way," he said. "The guards don't have adequate training to be armed." Wackenhut also works for private companies and, in some instances, its guards are armed. Washington said it's a wonder hospital escapes aren't more common. "We've been lucky, very lucky," he said.

"There's no reason for guards to be armed," said Abrahano. "You don't really think (prisoners) are going to go anywhere." Not really thinking seems to be an ongoing problem at Wackenhut.

Consider case of the 27-year-old fugitive from Colorado who escaped from custody at UC San Diego Medical Center ten days later, the third such escape from a hospital room in less than six weeks. In each case the inmate had been guarded by Wackenhut Corp., which is under contract to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Wackenhut cost the Sheriff's Department $410,000 that year, according to county officials. The prisoner, who jail officials had considered to be an escape risk, eluded two Wackenhut security guards but was arrested after crashing a stolen truck into a tree across the street from a San Diego Police Department substation. Clearly this was no rocket scientist either, but was smarter than his guards.

According to police, the escape occurred about noon when, with one of the guards apparently out to lunch, the prisoner asked the other guard for permission to take a shower. He then asked for shampoo and, when the guard left to get it, escaped from his 10th floor room by taking a stairway that leads outside. Well, duh!

Thirteen months, and nearly half a million dollars later, San Diego city officials recommended that the City Council choose Wackenhut to build a privately run, $6.5-million jail on four acres of county-owned land at the East Otay Mesa Correctional Complex to house misdemeanor cases who are currently given citations and remain free until their day in court.

Assistant City Manager Jack McGrory recommended March 16, 1990 that council members authorize the city manager's office to negotiate with Wackenhut Corrections Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Wackenhut Corp. A "selection committee" chose from among four proposals to build and operate the jail. The Wackenhut proposal, which was selected over two cheaper bids, "was rated highest in every category" except cost, McGrory said. It was also the only proposal to meet all requirements described in the bidding request. Wackenhut was rated highest in experience, program quality, security and supervision and staff quality.

"Wackenhut Corrections Corp. has the experience and financial stability necessary to successfully design, build and operate the city's Misdemeanor Pre-arraignment Detention Facility," McGrory said.

The CCPOA maintains that "influence" has much to do with the germination of such private projects. Who or what influenced McGrory remains a matter of conjecture. The City Manager's Office needed council approval to begin negotiations with Wackenhut. Approval was reported the following week. A City Council committee authorized City Manager John Lockwood to begin negotiations even though the city had not yet decided how to pay for the $6.5-million jail. A state grant to pay for first-year jail costs was sought. Negotiations with the county to lease the four acres on East Mesa were already in progress. This style of government is by no means exclusive to the city San Diego. Who or what influenced Lockwood is equally open to conjecture.

A week later, representatives of the city and county of San Diego signed a memorandum of understanding clearing the way for the city to build. The County Board of Supervisors agreed to amend its Criminal Justice Master Plan to include the temporary jail. According to the memo, the building would be turned over eventually to the county to use as part of a planned jail complex in the area. Or so, said the Times , authorities "hope."

City officials believe the new jail is needed to house an increasing number of suspects who remain free because of a lack of space. The county, however, claimed concern that the new city complex would further increase the number of inmates, burdening the county's already overcrowded criminal justice system even more. Besides the Sheriff's Department, the new facility will increase workloads for the county court system and the public defender's office, according to the county's chief administrator's office. That the 200 prisoners to be entrusted to the care of Wackenhut's "premier" prowess, would burden the criminal justice system anyway, lends a hollow ring to the county's alleged concerns. June 16, 1991 The Times ran a business section article on the privatization of prisons in general, apparently an attempting to justify the project The article was slanted heavily towards privatization and dwelt mainly on the financial savings involved.

All this was finally too much for D. M. McClure, correctional officer and Times reader. He wrote to the editor: ". . . make no mistake about it, this work is not for everyone. Correctional officers work in some of the most miserable places in the world, with some of the most miserable people in the world. Do the 'privatization' boosters really think that Wackenhut (Corrections Corp.) or any of the other discount outfits are going to attract professional, career-oriented officers with their minimum wage and minimal fringe benefits? Just wait until one of these 'rent-a-guards' kill or seriously injure someone, or start a riot because they don't have the training and temperament to deal with seriously disturbed and violent people. That first lawsuit that the state loses will more than wipe out any potential savings the state may have achieved by contracting out for part-time guards over professional, trained officers. There are many ways that the state can save money in the prison system, but contracting out to the lowest bidder is not one of them."

Never in my life did I even imagine that one day I would be sticking up for a screw, but by golly there people, this guy is right. Prisons are clearly no answer to the problems of crime. If they were, they'd work. Only a complete restructuring of society can begin to address the problem. Victimless crimes are not crimes. Crimes against property are political offenses, and almost always the result of drug prohibition. This leaves violent crime, a tiny minority of all crimes. The best and only truly effective defense is self defense, both individual and collective. History has proven conclusively that courts, prisons, and cops, both public and private, are useless. They fail to cure the problem and add to the cost. Worse, they use the power we grant them against us. Then they charge us for the service.

There are many ways the public can abdicate it's autonomy in order to shirk the duties that come with freedom. The practice of hiring of bumbling thugs to "protect" us has long withstood the test of time. Our freedom has not. As we approach the increasingly corporate millennium, we can look forward to life in a private prison that encompasses all society and subjugates every moment of daily life: work, a prison of measured time, and play, a supervised activity. For this we have sacrificed our birthright. To this end we even hire our own guards. Guards who work for pay, not for us. Guards who have their own agenda. And a lot of them aren't even good at it. This is a mixed blessing. They, themselves, are a curse.