MAY 12 2012
ONDON — Giant US military-industrial
company Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) is in the running to win a slice
of a controversial £1.5 billion (US$2.43 billion) contract to transform
the West Midlands and Surrey police forces in Britain, The (London)
Times reported. Hailed as the largest police privatization scheme in the
UK, it has been suggested the private companies who win the contract
will be tasked to perform several police functions — including patrols,
detention and criminal investigation.
KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton group, has attracted its
share of criticism over the large contracts it won with the US
government during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The
corporation also helped to build the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
The Times reported that it was among four groups shortlisted to win
the British police contract, a number whittled down from more than 200.
A KBR spokesman said its bid was the first time the corporation had attempted to get involved in regular policing.
“KBR is not involved in policing; instead, our objective in the
privatization of the police force is to get more police doing actual
police work while KBR brings operational efficiencies to the back office
with the objective of achieving an overall lower cost of service while
improving service levels,” the spokesman said.
With police planning to hold a protest march next week against the
push to privative the force, KBR’s involvement in the bidding process
will possibly add fuel to the fire.
“This is the latest move that seems to be designed to make the police
more and more remote from the public we serve,” said Julie Nesbit, of
the Police Federation.
“We believe simply that if you call a cop, you should get a cop, not a
security guard, not a uniformed civilian nor an employee of a major
international conglomerate. We believe it’s what the public expect and
believe that there should be a public debate before parts of the police
service are sold off to the highest bidder.”
Police Superintendents’ Association President Derek Barnett said the
public should be more involved in the push towards privatization.
“The legitimacy of policing stems from the fact that it takes place
with the consent of the public; it is only right, therefore, that the
public should have a say in who they want to deliver operational
policing services,” he said.
http://theyellowbrickroadfreeblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/us-military-industrial-giant-kbr-in-bidding-to-privatize-british-police-forces/
No comments:
Post a Comment