Guards fired for sleeping while on duty

Transition difficulties cited At least four Allied Security guards have been fired for sleeping on the job since the company took over residential security last month, Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said yesterday. Allied Assistant Account Manager Mike Vanartsdalen said he could not confirm any of the reports, and no one else from the firm was available for comment last night. But University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich said he is well aware of the problem of guards sleeping on the job. "When Allied was given the approval to take on the contract there was less than 21 days between the time of that decision and their hiring practice," Kuprevich said last night. "We knew it would be extremely difficult for them." Allied replaced McGinn Security Services Aug. 15. In 1993 and again earlier this year, The Daily Pennsylvanian photographed several McGinn guards asleep on the job. After an investigation by a committee of University officials, McGinn's contract was terminated in April, four years before it was set to expire. When Allied took over last month, Kuprevich said the company had to hire about 50 guards to fill all of the residential posts across campus. In doing so, they hired about five former McGinn guards, he added. In order to verify their eligibility for employment, Allied ran background checks on all guards and finger-printed them for the company's records, he said. "We know that they are going through a whole process of looking for people that meet requirements that we have set out," Kuprevich added. Simeone said she is confident Allied will handle the situation and that the problems associated with McGinn will not be repeated. "I know that there have been some [guards] that have been caught sleeping," Simeone said. But, she added, "[Allied] has been very responsive in terms of any concerns that we have had, in addition to any concerns University Police have had." Simeone said all things considered, she thinks Allied has done a good job so far. "Students find the guards to be professional and personable which is important in a home setting like a residence hall," she said. "They are doing very well." Some students disagree. College freshman Maury Apple said he had to bang on the door of the front desk of the Quadrangle several times to get buzzed out of the building at about 7:50 a.m. one day last week. Because the Allied guard now has to buzz students out of the Quadrangle between 4 and 8 a.m. as part of new security procedures implemented this month, Apple could not leave without the guard's actions. "I walked up there, his eyes were open, but he had a glazed-over look, and I had to bang on the door a few times until he snapped out of it to buzz me in," he said. Apple said although the guards eyes were open, "he was asleep." And College freshman Julie Hollows said when she tried to report that trespassers had entered the Quadrangle at around 1 a.m. yesterday morning, no one answered the phone at the front desk. She then called University Police, who responded to the complaint. Allied was chosen for a two-year contract after an extensive three-month search. The firm was chosen from a pool of 14 candidates that were evaluated by a team of representatives from the Division of Public Safety, the Department of Residential Living, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, the Purchasing Department and the student body.

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