14/08/2012

G4S Recruiting 'Civilian Investigators' For Warwickshire Police

The firm at the centre of the Olympic security blunder, G4S, have begun recruiting staff for criminal investigations for a police force, the Guardian has reported.

Listed duties include house-to-house inquiries, giving evidence in court and undertaking "sensitive high-profile cases under limited supervision".

The G4S adverts for "civilian investigators" to work on long-term "open-ended" contracts based in local investigation units throughout the Warwickshire police force first appeared last Wednesday on the G4S Policing Solutions website.

Warwickshire police confirmed the move, saying they needed to recruit additional staff "from time to time" to meet specific operational needs and that recruiting them on a contract basis gave the force flexibility.

"The requirements of the work we are currently recruiting for requires specialist investigative skills, but does not require the full warranted powers of a police officer," said a Warwickshire police spokeswoman.

G4S boss Nick Buckles last month accepted when questioned by MPs that the company's failure to produce enough staff for the Olympics had been a "humiliating shambles".

On Tuesday cabinet ministers Philip Hammond and Jeremy Hunt said that the outcome of the £284m G4S Olympic security contract had caused them both to "think again" about the default use of private contractors.

(H)

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