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I-Team: Wackenhut Uses Ex-Subcontractor's Guards

Wackenhut Says It Cut Ties With Specialized Security Consultants

POSTED: 6:49 pm CST January 10, 2008
UPDATED: 8:08 pm CST January 10, 2008

A security company said it would stop using a Wilson County subcontractor after the Election Commission break-in, but the same might not be said for its employees.

Video: I-Team: Ex-Subcontractor's Guards Still At Work In Metro

Wackenhut Security claimed it got rid of local subcontractor Specialized Security Consultants, which is blamed in the break-in. But the I-Team found the same people guarding the same buildings, and the only things that had changed were the guards’ uniforms.

A guard at the Metro Election Commission on Wednesday was wearing a uniform for SSC, but on Thursday, the same guard was wearing a different uniform shirt.

Wackenhut said it wants to distance itself from Brandon Murphy, who was working for SSC the night the Election Commission was broken into and laptops with voter records stolen.

"I guess you get complacent after a while, things run smooth,” said Murphy.

Wackenhut made sure everyone knew that Murphy worked for SSC and that everyone should "clearly distinguish" between the two companies.

Metro insisted that Wackenhut stop using SSC, but as Nancy Amons reported, the guards just changed clothes.

"Weren't you wearing an SSC patch yesterday?” Amons asked the guard. “And you're wearing a Wackenhut patch today?"

Amons said she wondered why SSC's guards are still watching Metro's buildings.

The I-Team asked Mayor Karl Dean’s Chief of Staff Rita Roberts-Turner.

"You'd have to let legal deal with that question,” she said.

But the legal department didn't know the old SSC employees were still on duty. The I-Team asked Wackenhut's corporate office about it, and they confirmed that every employee who used to work for SSC now works for Wackenhut, with the exception of the fired guard and an SSC manager.

Specialized Security Consultants' business address leads to a house in Mount Juliet.

Amons tried to reach a representative there, but no one answered the door.

Metro legal said the I-Team’s findings took them by surprise.


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