DeKalb County’s spending on security guards at government buildings is slated to nearly double over the next five years.
The county has paid All N One Security Services roughly $6.5 million since 2014. Now, the company is in line to receive a new five-year contract worth $11.3 million.
The county for years has used an outside contractor to provided armed and unarmed guards at various facilities, including senior centers, utilities payment locations and the building where commissioners and the CEO have offices. Other counties in the region use security officers, too, but none have logged the cost increases that DeKalb has seen in the past year.
DeKalb County officials said last year that they would rather hire security guards from a private firm rather than using police officers in these jobs, because police are paid more per hour. Unarmed security officers make about $15 an hour; armed guards make about $18.
The contract guards screen visitors for weapons and provide other necessary services at entry points, such as filling out visitor logs or directing people to the correct place.
The police department oversees the security contract, but almost every county department that interacts with the public uses security officers.
Lt. Phillip Albritton, commander of the DeKalb Police Department’s security unit, said the cost of the security contract has increased significantly because the number of security officers requested by various departments has increased.
“It’s not a small amount of money,” Commissioner Jeff Rader said Tuesday.
He questioned the sharp increase in costs and the process used to select All N One from the list of companies who submitted bids this year on the security contract. The second-place company submitted the lowest cost proposal, but because All N One scored higher overall, the county's purchasing department recommended they keep the job. All N One is based in Atlanta.
Last year, the county explained ballooning security costs as a response to a 2014 law that allows guns to be carried legally in more public buildings unless there is security and screening for weapons at access points. However, other counties in metro Atlanta did not report similar increases in their security costs.
The commission’s Employees Relations and Public Safety Committee this week decided to hold off on approving the new security guard contract until county staff provides additional details about how the increased funding would be spent.
Rader also asked the Office of Independent Internal Audit to review the security contract that is slated to take effect on August 1, and to also review the procurement process and point out any concerns or recommendations that could lower costs.
For example, Rader questioned the usefulness of requiring interested companies to submit audited financial statements in order to prove their “financial responsibility.” All N One submitted the statements, but the second-place company did not.
“Often we will propose specifications that end up knocking some people out,” Rader said.
Rader questioned whether the county was penalizing companies needlessly and if there isn’t a better way to judge the financial strength of potential contractors.
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