But the old company will continue to guard city’s schools
The District isn’t renewing its contract with the company that provides security for government buildings, but the same company will continue to guard D.C. Public Schools until at least June under a separate agreement, D.C. officials told The Washington Examiner.
U.S. Security Associates currently provides guards for some city buildings and schools, but D.C. plans to switch to Allied Barton for guards at properties other than schools after the existing contract ends on March 31.
The city is paying USSA $5.4 million for more than three months of security at select buildings it owns and leases. Another contract to guard schools — a six-month, $3.7 million agreement — doesn’t expire until June.
In 2011, an internal memo documented repeated episodes in which USSA guards prevented undercover officers with contraband from entering city buildings. The same report, however, also revealed some security failures — including the simulated introduction of a bomb into the John A. Wilson Building — the city government’s headquarters.
But a top District official denied those breaches prompted the coming changes.
“The solicitation process conducted was a ‘best value’ solicitation that examined both performance and price,” Brian Hanlon, interim director of the Department of General Services, told The Examiner. “In this case, Allied Barton achieved the higher score.”
Hanlon said that USSA’s failure rate was similar to that of the Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency that screens airline passengers.
A USSA spokesman declined to respond to questions about the city’s plan not to renew the company’s contract and would say only that USSA had not had its existing contract voided.
Security at District buildings has long been a flash point. In 2010, the city’s inspector general documented repeated security lapses under another security contractor, Hawk One.
By the time the probe became public, Hawk One, which is now defunct, had lost its contract with D.C.
Its replacement, USSA, also drew criticism. When he was council chairman, now-Mayor Vincent Gray said USSA placed “the safety of our city and residents at risk.”
But in December, the mayor urged the D.C. Council to extend two USSA contracts at a total cost of more than $9 million.
In a letter, Gray said he sought the extension of the company’s agreement to protect city buildings to “give the District enough time to solicit and award a new contract.”
Additionally, a mayoral spokesman, Pedro Ribeiro, said Gray wanted to extend the schools contract to avoid swapping security providers in the middle of an academic year.
Ribeiro said Gray didn’t participate in the decision not to renew USSA’s contract.
