(Image source: G4S )

 

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

 

Private security firm G4S is taking a beating in the British media after news broke the firm would not be able to fulfill its security contract for the London Olympics. UK’s 5 News has more .

“The security firm was tasked with 10,000 guards, but admitted this week that the target would not be met. … Ministers are insisting that the games will be secure, and that the problem was no more than a hitch.”

The games will be secure because the government has pledged 3,500 additional troops to work security in light of the G4S shortfall. But a CNN reporter says the company can’t guarantee more troops won’t be needed.

“There’s been a computer glitch in its software, meaning … it still doesn’t know how many of the 10,000 guards that it’s supposed to have contracted will turn up on the day.”

As a taste of things to come, an Olympic venue in Manchester was scheduled to have 56 G4S employees, but only 17 actually showed up. Officers from nine local police forces had to fill the gap. A police federation spokesperson tells BBC the situation was an absolute debacle.

“What we witnessed here is almost a collapse of the private elements of the security of the Olympics. We’ve got to ask — when is this going to end?

The Guardian notes this isn’t the first time the company has faced the wrath of British media.

“In its former incarnation as Group 4 in the early 1990s it became a national joke in Britain as its first contracts to escort prisoners from courts to jail were hit by one high-profile escape after another.”

CEO Nick Buckles says he’s disappointed the company couldn’t recruit enough guards. But a writer for New Statesman says with high unemployment in Britain, is that a realistic excuse?

“Much more likely is that the company miscalculated in its attempts to maximise its profit, over-estimated its ability to do things ‘on the cheap’ and the availability of free labour, and spectacularly failed.”

The company’s stock slipped 9% Monday as markets reacted to the news. Analysts expect to see high-level resignations from the company soon — possibly including Buckles.