US/World News

After Orlando, an expert warns about who’s guarding Jewish sites

(JTA) — Jewish institutions must react to the flaws in the security industry exposed by the mass shooting in Orlando, the top Jewish community security official said. Paul Goldenberg, who directs the Secure Community Network, said Omar Mateen’s employment by a prominent security firm, G4S, should raise alarm for Jewish groups that hire security staffers from that firm and other contractors. “We need to rethink the process and not depend on the lowest bidder,” Goldenberg told JTA, emphasizing that he was not singling out G4S, but noting that many Jewish institutions used outside contractors. “The Jewish community has come to rely on private security professionals. We need to consider who to hire.”

Goldenberg, whose SCN is an affiliate of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said security staff often have minimum screening and training, and are paid minimum wage. Contractors often screen staff just once and are hesitant to act even when alerted to unusual behavior.

G4S said in a statement it was cooperating with law enforcement. It said Mateen was employed as a guard at a residential community in South Florida and that it had screened him twice, once in 2006 when he was hired and again in 2013. G4S said it was found “no adverse findings” in its screenings, and that it was not informed of separate screenings by law enforcement. NBC reported that the FBI had screened Mateen at least twice, including once in 2013 after co-workers said he made inflammatory statements about radical Islam. A colleague, Daniel Gilroy, told USA Today he had informed G4S about Mateen’s homophobic and racially charged comments.

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