SEATTLE - The company hired to take over security at Seattle's downtown transit tunnel following the brutal beating of a teenage girl last year has been cited for failing to properly train and equip its guards who are stationed there.
The state Department of Labor and Industries fined Securitas Security Services U.S.A. of Bellevue $14,000 this week,
Labor and Industries spokesman, Hector Castro, says one of Securitas employees complained to the department in July, 2010. The anonymous worker told state investigators he did not feel safe doing his job in the Metro Transit Tunnels.
Securitas was hired after guards for the previous contractor, Olympic Security Services of Tukwila, were captured on surveillance video watching as a 15-year-old girl was beaten and robbed by a group of other teens. Those guards were following standing orders to "observe and report," and sheriff's officials agreed with their actions, saying it's not safe for unarmed civilians to intervene in violent situations.
But King County Executive Dow Constantine disagreed, saying at the time he expected more from Olympic, and he directed Metro, the county's transit agency, to hire another company to provide protection in the tunnel.
A Securitas spokeswoman did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday. The company has 15 working days to appeal.
Castro said inspectors spent about five months reviewing Securitas' operations.
The inspectors found the guards are expected to approach and contact people who might become violent. The guards are trained to defuse volatile situations verbally and are trained in some self-defense tactics. But they "are not provided the appropriate tools and equipment for the best and proper responses for a subject's escalation of resistance levels that can result in physical violence," the department found.
Securitas has failed to assess what training or equipment the guards might need to protect themselves if such situations escalate.
Furthermore, the department found, the guards are forced to rely heavily on backup from Metro police while at the same time being instructed not to contact those officers directly. Instead, Securitas guards are told to radio their supervisor when situations escalate. The supervisor calls Link Metro, which then calls a King County Metro dispatcher, who sends an officer to the scene.
"They're required to contact an individual who could become aggressive, and if a situation develops they're expected to remain on scene," Castro said. "They don't have the training or the equipment to protect themselves, and the steps they're required to take to call for assistance only increase those hazards."
Castro said many of Securitas' guards are former law enforcement officials who are highly trained from their previous work, but it's the company's responsibility to provide its own training and proper equipment for its workers.
To add a comment, please register or login.