Give underpaid and undertrained guards weapons and the authority to use them

Give underpaid and undertrained guards weapons and the authority to use them and you’re asking for trouble.Olympic Security, the firm that came under fire after three of its guards “observed and reported” while a 15-year-old girl got beaten in a Metro tunnel, will soon be out of a job.King County Metro announced yesterday that they won’t re-up with Olympic when the firm’s five-year contract expires in the fall. Instead, they’ll be looking for a new security group to help patrol the tunnels.In light of the publicity surrounding the beating, this conclusion was kind of inevitable. Still, it’s nice to see Metro get it right.If it’s going to ask security to intervene in fights like the one that caused the controversy, Metro is better off going with well-trained guards rather than doing it on the cheap, by trying to remake those earning $11 an hour.See also, Another Ripple Effect of the Metro Teen Beating.