Officials study McGinn contract

Following a Daily Pennsylvanian report which found five McGinn Security Services guards asleep on the job, Acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum said last night that she is carefully reviewing the University's contract with the security firm. And Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone said last night that all security guards photographed sleeping in a two-hour period Wednesday morning were fired by McGinn Services. McCoullum said she expects to announce by Wednesday what steps the University will take to improve the existing problematic system of security. This could even include the possible termination of the University's agreement with McGinn, she added. "I intend to conduct my own review of this contractual agreement and to announce the outcome of that review publicly, no later than next Wednesday," McCoullum said. She added that she has asked Simeone and University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich to prepare briefing materials detailing changes in policy and procedure in residential safety so that she may refer to this information during her review. "I want to make sure we leave no stone unturned as we conduct this review," she said. Under the University's current contract with McGinn, which does not expire until June of 1998, the University is required to inform McGinn if they are considering termination of the agreement at least 30 days before such action is taken. Joseph McGinn Sr., president of McGinn Security Services, said he has not received such notice. Meanwhile, McGinn Vice President Joseph McGinn Jr. met with Simeone yesterday, but "we did not discuss his contract specifically," she said. McGinn Jr. encountered no problems when he walked around campus Wednesday night, as he does from time to time, the elder McGinn said. And University Police spot checks of the guards, which were instituted Wednesday night, did not turn up any guards asleep on the job, Simeone said. McGinn Sr. said that because of the DP report he has consulted a physician who specializes in sleep disorders to find ways to prevent guards from falling asleep on the "graveyard shift," which runs from midnight to 8 a.m. The fallout from the incident would have been of a graver nature if supervisors and rovers "weren't getting around" the posts and checking on guards, McGinn Sr. said. "We've been getting around four to five times per night, which is more than we're assigned," he added. McGinn Sr. said that although the problem "evidently is just an inherent problem with our human structure," every employee on the "graveyard shift" was reminded of the importance of remaining alert. McCoullum, though, said that the lapses disturbed her. "I just couldn't comprehend how any individual would put the safety and security of our students at risk," she said. According to McGinn Sr., though, the number of reported incidents involving infractions committed by McGinn security guards is extremely low. He said that there is roughly one incident in every 1,700 hours of work. An "incident," McGinn Sr. said, includes minor infractions, such as eating at one's post. "Considering the number of hours we put in each year, the number of serious incidents is at an absolute minimum," he said. Kuprevich suggested last night that the University impress upon McGinn the importance of maintaining and improving security guards' alertness and attentiveness. The University Police's random spot checks, Kuprevich said, verify whether security guards at the front desks are doing their jobs. These checks, he added, are one of the immediate short-term solutions to ensure student safety. Simeone said she is sitting down with McCoullum today to put Residential Living's immediate policy changes in writing. These changes were implemented at meetings yesterday. Some of the changes which may occur include a stepping up of Residential Living spot checks, which were introduced after the DP photographed guards asleep on the job last year. Another idea, Simeone said, is to purchase radios for the guards, "so that the folks sitting and doing their jobs would be required to call in on a regular basis to show that they're alert and at their stations." Kuprevich said these measures may not be enough, though. "I think we look at all these potential measures as dealing with problems in light of the way residential security is set up," Kuprevich said. "What we intend to do is to explore and find out what other options we might have." One of those options, he said, may include the complete restructuring of front end security in residential halls.