G4S Loses Contract. Handing Prisons to Any Commercial Contractor is a Grave Mistake
►http://www.globalpolicy.org/home/257-pmscs-risks-misconduct/52043-g4s-loses-contract-handing-prisons-to-any-commercial-contractor-
By Andrew Neilson
Open Democracy
November 8, 2012
While media outlets generally focus on the international dimension of PMSCs involved in Iraq or Somalia, one should bear in mind that Western countries increasingly employ such private firms domestically. Yet, major risks emerge when states try to combine security functions that used to be exclusively public with a profit-oriented business strategy. In the UK, the privatization of the prison system has created intense controversy. After being directly involved in the London Olympics security fiasco, the Private Security Company G4S has lost its major contract to administer the prison of Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Ultimately, the privatization of prisons represents a threat to democracy itself as “commercial confidentiality shields the process from public view and democratic accountability.”