Wackenhut Rent-a-Cops

While Wackenhut has been on best behavior in its push for the top spot in the private prison field, the parent company garnered much unwelcome notoriety. It provided the controversial protection for strike breakers in the Pittston strike. Its contract with the Savannah River Site and Rocky Flats nuclear facilities brought in $39 million in 1992, according to the company's annual report. The company's ubiquitous presence at nuclear facilities and the role of its employees in repressing anti-nuclear demonstrations--including intelligence gathering--has made the term "wackenhuts" synonymous with rent-a-cops. The company has resorted to "dirty tricks" against its perceived foes or those of its clients. As security provider for the Alyeska pipeline consortium, for example, Wackenhut employed unlicensed investigators and questionable methods to find and discredit environmentalist whistle-blowers within the company.

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