'Spy firm' included on Auckland City Council's Occupy security bill
A security firm previously criticised for 'spying' on activist groups are among one of three firms hired to manage the recent Occupy Auckland protests.
A security bill accumulated by the Auckland Council has been found to include payments to several private investigators and a security firm following the recent Occupy Auckland protest.
The firm in question has a history of ‘spying’ on activists, including cases of paying students to infiltrate activist groups to extract potentially valuable information.
The Auckland Council’s $126,673 security bill spent on monitoring and evicting Aotea Square’s protesters includes a $38,000 payment to Auckland-based security firm Thompson & Clark, one of a trio of security firms hired to manage the ‘uprising of the 99%’.
Around four truckloads of camping equipment and personal belongings present during the eviction of the protest site were removed by the security firm.
The self titled security, corporate intelligence and protection agency, as stated on the Thompson & Clark website, was last year involved in an incident which saw the firm caught planting a tracking device onto the car of an animal rights campaigner, putting into question many legal standpoints in regards to its actions.
Also among the few security firms hired to monitor the protest was Red Badge Security, who were stationed in and around Auckland City’s Civic Building, alternatively referred to as the Auckland City Council Administration Centre following the first wave of eviction arrests.
Access to the building was restricted only to those who held a valid council swipe-card, with Red Badge security officers refusing to comment on what the firm’s motives were for ‘palace guarding’ the building, denying access to anyone without a valid council card.
Robert McCambridge
Thu, 01 Mar 2012
Thu, 01 Mar 2012
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'Spy firm' included on Auckland City Council's Occupy security bill
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