We all recognize that challenging security and safety emergencies require decisive and fast-acting decision-making. Often those decisions are left up to the public officials in charge. When a police official makes an emergency declaration, it typically comes with years of seasoned experience and the advice of that agency’s top executives. But what happens when the city’s top politician is calling the shots or not? What happens when an unlicensed security contractor and subcontractor are awarded a multi-million-dollar security service contract at the taxpayer’s expense?
A recent article by New York Daily News reporter Chris Sommerfeldt “A Small Security Detail” uncovered a severely flawed decision process by former New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio and his administration during the height of the COVID pandemic. In brief, with hundreds of NY hotel properties, including those located in the outer boroughs converted to shelters, in order to isolate members of New York’s homeless community, temporary security services were necessary to ensure the safety of all parties concerned, particularly the staff and communities directly impacted by this decision. What happens next and for many months to follow while the city was on lockdown, was nothing short of gross negligence by the DeBlasio administration. To date, there is no data, incident reports or internal audits by the Office of Emergency Management which illustrate just how ineffective and costly this decision was.
With the NYPD already over extended due in part to the majority of New York on lockdown, the Mayor and Office of Emergency Management [OEM] decided to outsource these sensitive security services, which is well within their authority. Under OEM leadership, the agency is responsible for oversight, vetting and selecting various pre-approved contractors to provide essential services, in addition to designing responses to emergency-plans for an assortment of emergencies. OEM also operates the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) where city, state and federal agencies join representatives from the private and nonprofit sectors to coordinate complex responses to emergencies and disasters.
So, what went wrong and continues to go wrong in light of the information uncovered by this reporter. Let’s begin by first understanding who Exodus Transitional Communities Inc., is. Their mission statement describes them as a firm with a belief in human resilience that delivers innovative programming tailored to adults and youth affected by the justice system, and advocates for a society in which all can achieve social, economic, and spiritual well–being. Their Founder is Julio Medina. For the record, this is not a NYS Licensed Security Company. The NYS Department of State describes Exodus as a Domestic Charitable Not for Profit corporation. In their 2020 Annual Report, 79% of their revenue was the result of city government contracts and business. Although we do not have documentation to support this, there is a general assumption that Exodus has MBE certification [minority owned business/51% or greater] ownership giving them “preferred status” access to contracting with the City of New York.
Setting aside the altruistic virtues of this organization, what is known about this transaction is Exodus never provided the actual services and used their contractor status with OEM to obtain this lucrative contract while subsequently outsourcing the services to an unlicensed security provider. Fast forward, the Adam’s administration has chosen to willfully admonish City Hall, point the blame on OEM’s vetting process all the while continuing their business relationship with Exodus. Rather than sanction, fine or terminate Exodus’s contractor privileges for this gross violation of contract terms, Mayor Adams just awarded Exodus a 40-million-dollar contract to manage inmate placement services.
What has been made abundantly clear by this revelation is, with all the tools and resources accessible to City Hall and OEM they cannot be entrusted with our public safety, security, and tax dollars. There is nothing more challenging than planning and deploying services under transitional circumstances. The lessons learned during and after the attacks of 9-11 and weather disasters like Super Storm Sandy, exemplify how urgent emergency preparedness is and yet 20 years later, we as a city remain at risk and vulnerable to these breaches by a fundamental lack of contractor award policies, contract management system and agency oversight.
There is no doubt that Exodus provides an essential and much needed social service to our communities. That said, they too must be held accountable when they abuse or misuse their minority contractor status. Serving the security and safety needs of the people of New York demands the best and brightest industry professionals and most importantly, licensed professionals.
At Integrated Security Services, with 27-years of licensed service experience, we have dedicated our company to upholding the highest industry standards. Compliance begins with licensing, bonding and insurance, but does not stop there. Having a stable operating infrastructure to support staff payroll/HR, in-service training and supervision are essential not optional. Contracts such as the one described above should not be broad based, nor awarded simply on the merit of minority ownership certification. Contractors with no proven track record, or professional license should be a red flag for any city agency and a hard stop in the contract award process.
