The most notorious security guard alumnus is Timothy McVeigh. After serving in Operation Desert Storm, he hooked up with Burns Security in upstate New York. He guarded Calspan Corporation, a firm which conducts research for the Defense Department.
McVeigh's behavior both on and off the job highlights the lack of screening within the industry. According to a former supervisor, Mr. McVeigh, who had often talked about guns and had a licensed handgun for work, came in one day with a sawed-off shotgun and bandoliers slung in an `X' over his chest. `He came to work looking like Rambo,' Mr. Camp recalled.
McVeigh exhibited a pattern of aggressive behavior. His last supervisor at Burns said he wasn't good at dealing with people. `If somebody didn't cooperate with him, he would yell at them,' she said. `It didn't take much to set him off.'
In his off-duty hours, McVeigh peppered local newspapers with angry letters complaining of crime and taxes, warning: Do we have to shed blood to reform the current system? I hope it doesn't come to that. But it might.
A report by AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) issued in the aftermath of the Oklahoma bombing cited McVeigh's stint as a security guard in questioning the level of security provided to federal employees by private contract guards. The AFGE report states: McVeigh's on-the-job performance should have raised serious questions about his . ... The fact that McVeigh retained his job in spite of these behaviors suggests serious deficiencies in screening and monitoring private security guards.
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