Mayor's Office Says Security Guards May Have Been AWOL During On-Duty Times That Wackenhut Billed the City

From the Mayor's Office via the Tennessean:

Preliminary findings in the building security audit currently underway by the Department of General Services indicate contracted security guards may not have been on duty during all of the hours billed for services at the Metro Office Building that houses the Davidson County Election Commission.

General Services can find no cardkey access to the building by security guards on Saturdays from October to December when Metro was billed for 12 hours of service per day by Wackenhut Corp., which subcontracts the work to Specialized Security Consultants.

Say what you will about the sleeping Wackenhut guards caught on video in Pennsylvania. At least they were physically present to be snapped out of slumber if something bad happened. You absolutely cannot rely on a guard who doesn't even show up to work.

What I would like to know is whether the Karl Dean administration ran a thorough check of the security systems at Metro Buildings immediately after taking office? How can cardkey access not show up as a bogey on some administrator's radar screen? It sounds like some more heads need to roll to me. Also, did Wackenhut knowingly bill Metro for times that they knew guards were not on duty?