Industry News

Pentagon Force Protection Agency

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) was created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and was given the mission of providing force protection against the full spectrum of potential threats. The PFPA is a federal government agency that includes sworn Federal Police Officers, the United States Pentagon Police, non-sworn civilian anti-terrorism investigative and physical security personnel and civilian Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) technicians. In addition to its mandate to protect the Pentagon, the PFPA provides basic law enforcement and security for other Department of Defense interests in the National Capitol Region (NCR).

PFPA headquarters is located in the Pentagon, which is the highest-capacity office building in the world and largest by floor area. It houses approximately 23,000 military and civilian employees and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel. It has five sides, five floors above ground (plus two basement levels), and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5 miles of corridors.

At five acres, the central plaza in the Pentagon is the world's largest "no-salute, no-cover" area outside of a combat zone. The open space in the center is informally known as "ground zero," a nickname originating during the Cold War and based on the presumption that the Soviet Union would target one or more nuclear missiles at this central location. At the center of this plaza is the "Ground Zero Cafe," a snack bar.

Wackenhut Under Fire in Nashville

Wackenhut sub-contracted security guard services to Specialized Security Consultants. The place protected was the office of the Davidson County Elections Commission, which is part of the Nashville Metro government. On December 24, 2007, laptops containing personal data on every registered voter in the county were stolen from the Commission's office. Investigation revealed that the card-key access log for that day contained no entries to show that the officers reported for duty. In addition, the Nashville Mayor ordered a separate investigation alleging that Wackenhut billed the city for hours not worked. (Source: Security Letter, January 15, 2008.)

Interpol President Accused

Interpol members elect a prominent police of chief (from anywhere in the world) to serve one year as titular head. Until he resigned, this year's head of Interpol was Jackie Selebi, South Africa's Chief of Police. He resigned after being suspected of concealing the phone record of a woman murdered by Selebi's friend. The record showed that the friend placed a call from the scene of the murder. In addition, Selebi accepted from his friend $175,000. (Source: Security Letter, January 15, 2008.)

Eastern Michigan University Fined

The US Department of Education has levied a $358,000 fine against Eastern Michigan University for violating the Cleary Act, a federal crime-reporting law. In its report to the Department of Education, the University failed to report a student's murder, as well as 12 other violations, and failed to maintain a campus crime log from 2003-2005. Included in the charge was deliberate underreporting of crime statistics. (Source: Security Letter, January 15, 2008.)

Handwriting Expert Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Allen Southmayd, a forensic document examiner, pled guilty to stealing funds from the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners (ABFDE). Between August 4, 2006 and June 25, 2007, while the ABFDE Treasurer, Southmayd embezzled $68,500 by writing and negotiating 19 checks which he made payable to himself. He subsequently spent much of the money gambling at casinos.

At the time of the thefts, Southmayd was employed by the US Army Crime Lab in Atlanta, Georgia. The case was jointly investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).
(Source: www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.)


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