Allied rovers spied guards asleep at job

Three of the four Allied Security guards who were fired for sleeping on the job were discovered by Allied supervisors, said Manager of Safety and Security for Residential Living Joe Kirk. The fourth guard was caught by a Residential Living staff member, Kirk said. Allied branch manager Gordon Ellis said he would not confirm any specifics of the firings, except to say that "?there have been people let go for various reasons, be it an attendance problem or a learning problem." Kirk said the guards probably fell asleep because they were new to the job and were not used to the late-night hours. "When you have a situation like the graveyard shift, it's a difficult shift for people," he said. Kirk said he meets with University Police Commissioner John Kuprevich and Allied supervisors twice a week, and is confident that this will not become a recurring problem. Ellis said that sleeping on the job is not a usual problem for Allied. "I don't foresee it being an ongoing problem," he said, and added that he is aware of problems McGinn Security Services experienced with security marshals falling asleep. 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. Kirk considers the Allied incidents isolated and said he would not compare the problems to those experienced by McGinn. "I think you're dealing with two different operations," he said. "I would not compare the two." Kirk added that he does not think the guards caught sleeping will jeopardize the University's new security procedure, which has only one guard stationed in most campus residences during the late shift. Before last month, there was a guard and a desk receptionist on duty at night. In August, 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. University Director of Security Services Christopher Algard could not be reached for comment yesterday.