Wackenhut Failed To Provide Security Vests To Holocaust Museum Guards

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — A union official says he asked for protective vests for guards at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum two years ago, but they never got them.

Guard Stephen T. Johns was shot to death Wednesday when an 88-year-old gunman opened fire in the museum. The gunman was critically injured but no one else was hurt.

An official with the union that represents the guards says he pushed for protective vests after a man made threatening remarks to guards several years ago.

Union district director Assane Faye says the company that employs the guards never issued the vests.

Johns worked for Wackenhut Security, which says he was shot in the upper left torso. The company would say only that all officers were wearing appropriate equipment as specified in their contract.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/11/wackenhut-failed-to-provi_n_214418.html

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Wackenhut - why am I not suprised? :sarcasm:

But the issue is providing reasonable protection -- which Wacked-out-hut failed to do.

protected the guard. Any vest that wouldn't protect against a .22 would be worthless.

Around 30 years ago or so, my dad was a Sherrif's Deputy in northern Wisconsin. The department the latest and greatest protective vests. My father, being an inquisitive sort (and assistant armorer for the department) borrowed a second vest to test. Wrapped it around a stack of phone-books, and set it out on the range. It stopped his .357 service revolver cold. Stopped a .44 Magnum cold. Stopped a 9mm Parabellum cold. Stopped a knife, stopped a broadhead hunting arrow.

A .22LR penetrated, which raised some eyebrows. He figured the small bullet slipped between the weave of the kevlar cloth where the larger bullets caught too many strands at any one time.

I imagine that 30 years of progress has improved the things. Ought to be standard issue to any guard, paramedic or other first responder, regardless of situation. Even in a accident or bombing, it improves their survivability and thus ability to help others.

before the incident, i would have laughed at the union's request..."Who in fuck's name do you really think is gonna shoot up a museum??"

Because of the Holocaust deniers, anti-Semitic terrorists, etc.

Museum had the second most domestic terrorist threats of any federal building. I'm guessing the White House is first.

Can't remember which show it was on....maybe Blitzer.

Were there capitol police or DC metro police or federal security guards, could this travesty have been prevented?

That seems a little knee-jerkish.

Are we going to start nationalizing security every time an incident occurs?

Anyway...in that area there are dozens of all the above mentioned LEOs wandering around 24/7. As the Secret Service will tell you, it is near impossible to stop a single person that is willing to trade their life for their target's life.

The museum has been receiving death threats for years, and somebody just committed murder there. Nobody seems to be against federal protective for women's reproductive clinics, why should it be different than the Holocaust Museum? Remember, all of the federal monuments as well as The Smithsonian have federal or DC security.

Unions tend to put safety first.

union my hero. The employer did nothing and the union let it drop. A life and death issue.

and i say that as a LEO myself.

the guy walked up, and started shooting.

and there was an almost immediate response, apparently.

i have three coworkers who were shot ON THE SAME CALL when a guy walked up and started shooting, before they could put him down.

Those guards should have had vests.

I wonder if they have to provide their own firearms?

One thing is for sure - if I were in a line of work where I carried a gun, I'd be buying my own vest come hell or high water.

This guy was shot and killed with a .22. A vest would have saved him, no doubt about it.

Betcha next week all the guards will have them.

Don't hire a Nazi owned company to protect a Jewish museum.

Tough lesson for the guards family.

What ever happened to providing protection beyond the terms of the contract to your valued employees. Maybe OSHA needs a vest requirement for guards, police, etc.

K&R!

than protecting their employees? What a shock!

I hope the CEO of Wackenhut is riddled with guilt, but I doubt it. He probably is just annoyed with how much this is going to cost him.

So this scares me even more.

.. hrmm.. gotta look out for the shareholders' value.

with so many threats should have been given a vest and required to wear it as part of SOP.

And stories like this are why we need lawyers who will take a case on continency and sue. Not only would a successful lawsuit help this guy's kids, but the precedent will cause employers will be more careful in the future.

It does not surprise me that they did not protect their employees. This is a company that makes its money by putting humans in cages and lobbying for 'minimum sentence' laws to increase their profits / stock price. This 'for profit prison' system, which also includes Corrections Corp. of America and Concord (among others), is how we surpassed all nations in history in our per-capita prison population - all while most Americans believe we are one of the 'most free' countries in the world.