Criticism of McGinn guards dates to 1987

During McGinn Security Services' six-year tenure at the University, many allegations have surfaced about the quality of services the firm has provided. Problems with McGinn Services, a private security contractor hired by the University in late 1987 to monitor the entrances of many buildings across campus, have been reported since six months after the contract began, according to articles in The Daily Pennsylvanian. The first allegations against McGinn came in early 1988 with claims that some guards were asleep on the job and leaving their posts while on duty. The allegations of sleeping on the job resurfaced in 1989 when Jeff Jacobson, a former member of the University Council's Safety and Security Committee, observed several McGinn guards asleep on the job and kept a log of his observations. He presented his allegations to the committee at a meeting attended by Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone. Simeone said last night that it was her understanding that those problems were corrected at the time and that the individuals involved were dealt with appropriately. In December 1988, the DP reported that a McGinn guard was found to have an extensive criminal record after he was arrested by Univesity Police for disorderly conduct while on duty. The guard, who had been drinking prior to the incident, was arrested for allegedly harassing several students and injuring a University Police officer, according to the article. "We didn't do the job," Joseph McGinn Sr., president of McGinn Services, said Monday night of the incident. "We should have. It was an omission on our part." McGinn employees told the DP after the incident that the company continued its practice of placing employees on the job without background checks. "I went in this morning and I was hired," a guard said three weeks after the McGinn guard was arrested. "I turned in my application just before 4 p.m. and I've been working here from 4 to midnight." McGinn said that potential employees are given background checks before being hired and placed on the job in every case. In March 1989, several McGinn guards told the DP that McGinn officials were "careless" and "unfit." These guards said at the time that McGinn continued to hire workers without sufficient background checks. Several guards made similar claims last week. McGinn insists the checks are being made and are part of the University's contract. Delton Tyrone Clark, a former McGinn employee, told the DP in 1989 that McGinn "hires ex-cons" and "some guards drink and sleep on the job." Several guards last week expressed similar sentiments, but Simeone and McGinn said they have had no recent reports of intoxication on the job and have had only three reports in a year and a half of sleeping on the job. Then-Residential Living Director Carol Kontos-Cohen said at the time that Residential Living continually examined the company and its guards and said her department would conduct a thorough evaluation at the end of the spring semester, when the company's contract was up for renewal. "We keep track of any problems that occur in weekly and monthly reports," Kontos-Cohen said at the time. "In light of the 73,000 hours of service [McGinn] provides, there have been relatively few [incidents]." In 1991, Simeone told the DP that the University found two minors serving as McGinn guards in dormitories, without the University's knowledge. But 16-year-old Garrett Johnson, a University City High School student and a McGinn employee, said at the time that there were three or four high school students working for the security company. Minors are legally permitted to work for security companies, providing they do not carry a gun. Simeone said yesterday that she has worked very closely with McGinn concerning every problem, "large or small." "Certainly with an organization of that size, problems come up," Simeone said last night. "They have been very responsive to all of our complaints." Simeone said Residential Living will investigate the allegations made by some McGinn guards last week of sleeping on the job and poor supervision, inadequate background checks and insufficient training by McGinn. (CUT LINE) Please see HISTORY, page 5 HISTORY, from page 1

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