­­Purpose

The objective of our examination was to determine whether individuals who performed security guard and fire safety director services at three New York City buildings during calendar year 2017 under OGS Contract PS65725 met the Contract qualifications.

Background

Our office examined payments the Office of General Services (OGS) made to Summit Security Inc. (Summit) under statewide contract PS65725.  Under the contract, OGS paid Summit nearly $2.8 million for security guard and fire safety director services provided at the Shirley A. Chisholm State Office Building; the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building; and the James A. Farley Building in New York City during the period January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. 

Key Findings

We found OGS paid Summit more than $867,000 for 40 individuals provided by Summit’s subcontractor, Bestworth Security Services, who did not meet the Contract qualifications.  Specifically, none of the 40 the individuals who provided services at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building during calendar year 2017 took a drug test.  In addition, 27 of these individuals lacked other necessary Contract qualifications, such as the required Department of State registration, education, and/or work experience.  Of those 27, 10 individuals worked without an active DOS registration, which requires individuals to pass background and criminal history checks.  This consists of seven individuals who provided services for up to eight months prior to applying for their DOS registration, two individuals who never applied or obtained a DOS registration, and one individual whose registration expired in 1997 and was never renewed. With some minor exceptions, we found the fire safety directors and security guards directly employed by Summit met the contract qualifications.

Key Recommendations

• Establish an oversight process to ensure Summit, and any subcontractor, provides security guards who meet Contract qualifications.
• Ensure Summit, and any subcontractor, maintains documentation to demonstrate all security guards meet the Contract qualifications.
• Determine whether the individuals provided by Bestworth are qualified to provide security guard services and respond, as appropriate.  Recover funds, if warranted.