The September 11th attack
Local security firms in high demand

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Tourism industry jobs evaporated in Hawai'i following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the state's private security firms have hired hundreds of new workers while scrambling to meet a big spike in customer demand.

Kurt Espina of AKAL Security checks photo IDs of passengers returning aborad the Carnival Spirit luxury liner at Piers 10 and 11. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The company has asked some firms that are laying workers off to refer those with clean criminal records for security jobs, he said.

Some security companies say they weren't able to bid on or accept some new contracts because they didn't have enough personnel and weren't able to hire quickly enough.

"Security is up to the point where companies are being called and are looking around for manpower," said Patrick Canonigo, senior vice president of Freeman Guards. "We've had to turn down some jobs on Neighbor Islands because we couldn't meet the manpower demand. If we're getting tapped out, I'm sure a lot of others are going to be tapped out too."

The company has been recruiting constantly and will hire nearly 100 new guards if it lands two large contracts it recently bid on, he said.

Many government agencies, private utilities, office buildings and shopping malls questioned their security needs and preparedness for emergencies after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. This week's U.S. air strikes against Taliban targets in Afghanistan — and concerns about terrorist retaliation — have underscored security concerns further.

"Some of the large national companies are taking this extremely seriously, and it's very prudent to do that at this time," Tavares said.

Many firms want to make sure they have good evacuation procedures in place and that their employees know what to do and who to contact in case of an emergency, he said.

The World Trade Center's security director, Douglas Karpiloff, gave a presentation in Honolulu on those issues earlier this year, which Star Protection participated in, Tavares said.

He said Karpiloff stressed that the World Trade Center had carefully revisited its emergency procedures after terrorists set off a bomb there in 1993, and that one result was an annual fire drill.

"I've got to think that saved a lot people, because they knew what to do on Sept. 11," Tavares said. "The World Trade Center wasn't just winging it."

Karpiloff is among those missing and presumed killed in the attack.

C. Rags Scanlan, president and CEO of Royal Guard Security, said many clients are also seeking professional threat assessments, to determine whether terrorist may find their facilities attractive targets.

"These guys are after high-profile targets, and if you don't fit the criteria you don't have much to worry about," he said. "We don't want people to be filled with paranoia."

Terrorists have historically targeted heavily populated sites or those with major financial or symbolic value, and the World Trade Center was all of the above, Scanlan said.

Royal Guard focuses on high-end accounts with international corporations, utilities, and federal and state government, he said. It prides itself on having some of the state's best-trained security personnel.

Scanlan, a member of the Crime and Theft Prevention Committee of the American Society for Industrial Security, said airports and other clients put too much emphasis on providing security cheaply before the attacks. That led to low pay and high employee turnover — and weak security, he said.

"Nationally, the biggest concern we're trying to address is that low-bidding is not the way to go when you need security," Scanlan said. "You need to address the caliber of the individuals rather than the low bid. You get what you pay for."