People are making a big hoo-hah about security at the London Olympic Games. The organising committee hired a security firm, G4S, to provide 10,000 security workers at the Olympics. Now G4S have discovered that they cannot recruit 10,000 people willing to work in security at minimum wages for four or six weeks this summer. It seems that they can only get about 4,000. The government has stepped in with 3,500 soldiers to augment whatever G4S can recruit and there’s the fuss. One side is complaining about political incompetence, another about they had a contract with G4S, the UK’s largest security firm. All sides miss the point.
If I were an evil minded person wanting to make a political point about the Olympics and perhaps do so by some terrorism or acts of madness, I would regard the award of a contract with G4S to provide 10,000 people as a marvellous opportunity.
G4S do not have 10,000 people on staff in employment to act as security people. They must recruit people from wherever they can, including it seems some people who do not speak English. Background checks have to be made, forms filled in but it would not take a mastermind to fool G4S. That is the opportunity for terrorists; what better way to wreck havoc than by infiltrating the security system, as the number of Afghan soldiers and policemen who have infiltrated the forces there and killed people.
The most important point, that has been missed, is that you cannot simply award a contract to a commercial firm to provide security and hope that all will be well with the security they provide. That is the fundamental mistake that the Olympic Organising Committee made. Security is important to provide but they forgot the old maxim “quis custodiet ipsos custodies”.
Filed under: climate change Tagged: | G4S, Locog, Olympic Games Security, olympic organising committee, quis custodiet ipsos custodies”
Excellent post Chris
Ultimately it is one’s labour we are parting for but not money, only an illusion in digits upon nothing real that is.
The moth balling of society has knock on effects like we have just witnessed in the G4 scenario, however, the profits that were once plentiful are not so cheap any more and the moth balling upon the sweat of the less fortunate is getting less returns as their awareness to those profits create yet another drought, a drought which will be planet wide and lasting and counting.
After the fiasco which is the Olympics will we all see exactly what I’m talking about.
And lastly all those languishing on the dole and in newly emmerging accademia, best get some real life skills before finding them gets even harder.
You will be glad you did.
“A fool and his money are soon parted”
LOCOG naievely believed that just because G4S would agree to do anything for money, they could actually do it!
Welcome to public sector procurement!
I bet LOCOG has no intention of pursuing G4S for damages because it will show up their procurement ineptitude.
Any lawyer will understand that G4S has probably already identified a defence to a claim for damages. In other words G4S sees more profit in not providing the contracted security team and betting that LOCOG will be too embarrased to seek legal redress.
This is a superb comment. I think that I should have gone into the business of accepting government money for nothing years ago.