| October 1999 |
Lab employees shouldn’t notice much of a difference in their day-to-day encounters with members of the Protective Force, who will be mainly the same friendly security police officers who greet us at the portals, when the new contractor begins on January 1.
“Initially, I don’t think we’ll see much change except for possibly a Wackenhut patch on their uniforms,” says ORNL Security Manager Bill Rich. “We expect most incumbent Security Police officers, who have the right of first refusal for jobs with the new contractor, to choose to retain their jobs through Wackenhut.”
Rich adds that other security tasks, such as the production of DOE standard badges, the processing of security clearance paperwork and the conduct of security awareness briefings, will be staffed by Wackenhut faces after the first of the year. Wackenhut will take over after a 90-day transition period this fall.
Meanwhile, ORNL employees should all have new badges by then, with a return to color coded, slightly different looking DOE standard badges: Holders of Q-clearances will have blue badges, yellow for L, gray for uncleared and red for non-U.S. citizens. New colors, but same faces: Photos currently on file will be used to accommodate the DOE-mandated rebadging.
Wackenhut wins ORO protective services contract
The Lab’s Protective Force will soon have a new employer. Oak Ridge Operations has chosen Wackenhut Services, Inc., as a prime contractor for the provision of selected protective services at Oak Ridge facilities. DOE and Wackenhut will enter into a three-year contract with two one-year options. The contract is valued at approximately $75 million per year.
