PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Residents of PGA Village are getting closer to learning if G4S will continue providing security for the Port St. Lucie neighborhood.
Residents expressed concern over the security company after learning Omar Mateen, the Orlando nightclub shooter, was allowed to work near their homes.
He was contracted by G4S.
Mateen worked in the guard gate days before the shooting.
After the shooting, a committee of residents formed to investigate G4S, their screening process and whether they had any knowledge of Mateen’s questionable past.
Tuesday, the committee presented its findings to the PGA Village Property Owner’s Association, Lang Management and about 80 concerned residents.
A major focus of their efforts focused on whether or not G4S knew about Omar Mateen’s issues with his employment at the St. Lucie County Courthouse before he was transferred to work at PGA Village.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said he made threats to coworkers there. One of the threats involved having Al-Qaida kill a deputy’s family.
The sheriff’s office referred his case to the FBI to be investigated.
But, Mateen also reported racist comments made toward him by other G4S employees and deputies at the court house.
An internal review of the court house incident resulted in G4S removing Mateen from court house duties as the result of a hostile working environment.
G4S personnel also concluded that Mateen was an excellent employee and they were surprised about the events at the courthouse.
Mateen was reassigned to PGA village. The report states “In interviews with the G4S General Manager for the relevant region, the reasons for the reassignment were that Mateen was residing in the Port St. Lucie area, had an excellent work history and attendance record”.
It also mentioned he was relocated “in light of the allegations of insensitive verbal conduct by others in the court house.”
There was no policy requiring G4S to inform representatives of Lang or PGA Village representatives why Mateen was transferred. There was no history of PGA Village management making a request for that information.
The committee found Mateen was screened by a psychologist. There was no evidence indicating G4S failed to vet applicants.
There was also no written record on behalf of the neighborhood of any significant performance discrepancies.
The committee did not form to make recommendations, but did find some facts worthy of consideration.
Lang and G4S do not have any pre-approval process for new hires or transfers.
Lang doesn’t provide G4S performance feedback.
Lang doesn’t have access to G4S internal evaluations, which the committee says hampers Lang’s ability to manage the contract.
Members of the PGA Village Property Owner’s Association will plan to meet with G4S to discuss this new information.
They hope to make a decision in about a month whether to continue the G4S contract, make changes to it or terminate it.
