Y2K
fear was good business for private agencies
By Kevin
Johnson
USA Today
WASHINGTON
- The Y2K scare is over, but the profits reaped by private security
companies are still pouring in.
Fear of computer
failure - compounded by anxiety over millennium-related terrorism
- prompted the dispatch of a small army of private security officer
across the country.
In weeks leading
up to New Year's Eve, there weren't enough bomb-sniffing dogs to
meet demand.
All 35, 000
security guards employed by Pinkerton's of Westlake Village, Calif.,
Were working over the weekend.
Having merged
with Securitas AB in March 1999, Pinkerton is part of the world's
largest security company. Its annual revenue is about $3.5 billion.
Kennedy:
Resources stretched
Guardsmark
of Memphis
set a new record every month in 1999 for hours logged by its 14,
000 guards. Last summer, the company reported annual revenue of
more than $300 million.
At T&M Protection
Resources in New York, Vice President Robert Tucker said that revenue
was up 300% over December 1998. A much smaller security firm by
comparison, T&M reports from $10 million to $15 million in annual
earnings.
Last weekend,
T&M security guards and its kennel of bomb-sniffing dogs were dispatched
to more than 50 locations throughout New York City in preparation
for the new millennium. "The demand was like nothing I've seen before,"
tucker said.
Typically,
the company's services are requested by large corporations. However,
for the past month, clients have included museums, hospitals, cargo
storage facilities and underground parking lots.
"The protection
of underground parking facilities is a big issue in New York," Tucker
said.
"We have great
confidence in law enforcement. But there are a lot of demands out
there."
Late last
week, just before the new year began, prospective clients were still
calling to inquire about the availability of bomb-detecting dogs.
"They were
offering us double what we charged to cancel existing contracts
and take on new business," Tucker said.
Even without
those offers, T&M's fees are substantial.
Assigning
bomb dogs at one facility T&M declined to identify for the duration
of New Year's weekend was expected to cost one concerned client
$30, 000.
But cost didn't
seem to be an issue for most companies and individuals seeking security
help at the eleventh hour.
