private security firm

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Oakland Residents Turn to Private Security Guards

As crime spikes, neighborhoods chip in to hire extra enforcement

(Newser) - As crime continues to rise in Oakland, Calif., (robberies are up 54%, burglaries 40%, car theft 33%) entire neighborhoods are banding together to hire private security companies to supplement the city's overwhelmed police force, reports the San Francisco Chronicle . The owner of one security company says his officers now...

Airports' New Year's Resolution: Dump TSA?

Can private security do a better job?

(Newser) - Fed up with TSA hassles at the airport? You may be in luck. Aware of growing passenger fury, more and more airports—including Dulles and Reagan National—are considering switching to private companies for security screening, reports the Washington Post . Sixteen airports have chosen to go the contractor route since...

Blackwater Settles With US for $42M
 Blackwater 
 Settles With 
 US for $42M 


CAN STILL GET FED CONTRACTS
Aug 21, 2010 8:44 AM CDT

Blackwater Settles With US for $42M

Security firm still faces other charges

(Newser) - No stranger to controversy, Blackwater has settled a laundry list of transgressions with the State Department to the tune of $42 million. The deal treats violations—which include illegally exporting weapons to Afghanistan and offering to train Sudanese troops without authorization—as an administrative matter, and allows Blackwater, now...

For Sale: One Disgraced Security Firm

Name change didn't rescue Blackwater from its bad reputation

(Newser) - The private security firm that used to be known as Blackwater is up for sale, after a recent name change to Xe Services failed to cure its dismal reputation. Founder Erik Prince has put the company on the block, saying improvements since the disastrous shootout at a Baghdad intersection in...

Iraqi Nixes Blackwater Settlement Offer

'We won't accept such an amount' for Baghdad massacre, he says

(Newser) - An Iraqi injured by the US private security firm once known as Blackwater today rejected a compensation deal for injuries he suffered after company employees opened fire in a crowded Baghdad square. "We have rejected the settlement because it is a small amount. We won't accept such an amount,...

Blackwater OK'd $1M Bribe Fund After '07 Iraq Shooting

Money was destined for officials critical after 17 killed

(Newser) - Security firm Blackwater set aside $1 million for secret payments to critical Iraqi officials after the 2007 Baghdad shootout that left 17 civilians dead. With Blackwater fearing it could lose its lucrative operating license in the country, former executives tell the New York Times , then-president Gary Jackson authorized the bribe...

CIA Uses Blackwater to Help Run Drone Attacks

(Newser) - The CIA has relied on a secret division inside the company once known as Blackwater for its drone operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, private employees and government officials tell the New York Times. The for-profit company assembles and loads Hellfire missiles and quarter-ton bombs on secret CIA bases on both...

After LAPD Makeover, Bratton Steps Down as Chief

(Newser) - William Bratton surprised colleagues and the city of Los Angeles with news today that he's stepping down as police chief, the Times reports. In his 6 years, Bratton reduced crime dramatically and introduced institutional reforms. The 61-year-old will head a private security firm after he officially passes the baton in...

US Confused by Afghan Mercenaries
US Confused
by Afghan Mercenaries
Jan 27, 2009 8:36 AM CST

US Confused by Afghan Mercenaries

Blackwater-style private security guards may answer to militants

(Newser) - It’s becoming harder to keep gun-wielding men straight in Afghanistan. Private security firms have cropped up all over, the Wall Street Journal reports, hired to protect businesses, particularly those doing work for the US. But coalition troops often can’t tell such groups apart from militants, and have been...

Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks
Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks
Jan 16, 2008 11:33 AM CST

Blackwater Probe Hits Roadblocks

DOJ runs up against immunity deal, possible gaps in US law

(Newser) - The Justice Department warned Congress last month that major legal obstacles stand in the way of any prosecution of private security firm Blackwater for a September shooting in Iraq, the New York Times reports. Immunity granted by the State Department to Blackwater employees represents a possible roadblock; Justice also has...

Security Device Sector Booms
Security Device Sector Booms
Nov 26, 2007 4:32 AM CST

Security Device Sector Booms

James Bond-style gadgets range from biometric keyboard to blast-proof curtains

(Newser) - The inventions that turned up this month at a competition to find the world's most promising security start-up sound like prop candidates for a James Bond film than the real world: explosion-proof curtains and a hand-held tester for exposure to nerve agents were featured alongside the winner, a night-vision camera...

Guards Kill 2 Iraqi Women
Guards Kill 2 Iraqi Women
Oct 9, 2007 10:57 AM CDT

Guards Kill 2 Iraqi Women

Shot in car at Baghdad intersection; Blackwater denies involvement

(Newser) - Two Christian women were shot dead in their car at a Baghdad intersection today by security guards escorting a four-vehicle convoy. Which firm was involved has not been released, Reuters reports. A policeman who witnessed the shooting said the men fired a smoke bomb, apparently to warn the car, 100...

Blackwater Owes $136M: Iraq
Blackwater Owes $136M: Iraq
Oct 8, 2007 8:32 PM CDT

Blackwater Owes $136M: Iraq

Demands firm pay millions to victims

(Newser) - Today Iraq told Bush to cut ties with Blackwater and then demanded that the firm pay $8 million for each victim in a recent shooting, the AP reports. Al-Maliki’s government also wants Bush to deliver Blackwater mercs to face possible justice in Iraq. Today’s demands stem from an...

Blackwater Guard Kept Blasting 'After Call to Stop'

First details emerge in probe of Iraq shooting

(Newser) - At least one Blackwater security guard continued firing at Iraqis, despite colleagues' call to stop during the incendiary incident earlier this month that killed at least eight civilians, witnesses have told investigators. Another guard for the private security firm is said to have pointed his gun at a fellow employee...

State Dept. Stonewalls Blackwater Investigation

House panel: Firm ordered not to disclose information without White House OK

(Newser) - Documents revealed yesterday show that the State Department ordered Blackwater USA, the private security firm accused of shooting Iraqi civilians last week, not to disclose information about its Iraq operations without White House approval. The State Department order has interfered with a congressional probe into Blackwater, angering the reps investigating...

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