Letters

Disturbing references

I found two articles in the October issue to be quite disturbing in their reference to contract security providers. "Security's Amazing Recovery" by Brian R. Johnson and Paul A. McCatty related the MFB Rehabilitation Center's innovative partnership with Grand Valley State University (GVSU). A key feature of the article was the changeover from contract security services to in-house services in partnership with GVSU. The first page of the article told glaringly of how the contract officers were not professional and how MFB was not getting what it had contracted for.

I would question what kind of partnership the hospital had with its security provider. The article noted that with the new arrangement, a security supervisor was hired. It seems incredible that the guard force operated at all without a supervisor being in charge. Readers might assume from the article that all contract agencies operate in the same fashion, that there are no professional experts in the contract world, and that most contract employees lack the education and the drive to give their all to a customer's needs.

Another article, "Contracting by Numbers" by Darryl T. LeDoux, CPP, further represents contract security providers as being marginal in value and professionalism. LeDoux states, for example: "However in working with most vendors, the security director must understand that the vendor will seek the best pay for the lowest level of service the company is willing to accept." This is a powerful statement-with no facts associated with the article to back it up. It has been my experience that customers today expect the very best service for the lowest price, rather than providers trying to get the best price for low-end service.

I have been associated with the security profession for over fifteen years in the contract provider services part of the industry. While I have encountered a few "low-end" providers during pre-bid invitations across the country, most national and regional companies are honest in their service quotations and service expectation provisions. Communication and partnership are key in any business relationship today. It is unfortunate that, as with most situations, a few bad apples spoil the...