FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — In June 2023, Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat contracted with Strategic Security Corp. (SSC) to help with chronic understaffing in the jail.
Records show the company agreed to provide one shift supervisor and 18 guards per shift at the jail, as well as a dedicated account manager to oversee the staff project.
A fee schedule estimated the contract would cost the Fulton County Sheriff's Office roughly $4.6 million each year. Both the company and the sheriff initialed that page.
However, in August 2024, FSCO acknowledged that it owed more than $1 million to SSC, prompting the company to halt services.
"In 22 years of private security and public sector service, we have never had to suspend services to any client due to nonpayment of services," said Joseph Sordi, CEO at SSC. "We were then forced to notify our staff that we were suspending services effective immediately."
The original contract contained a non-solicitation clause, which set guidelines for any SSC employees hoping to grow into a higher position with FCSO.
"In the event of solicitation of a [SSC] employee, [FCSO] agrees to provide [SSC] 90 days' notice prior to solicitation and [SSC] employee transferring to [FCSO] employee," the executed contract read.
Sordi said they changed the non-solicitation clause during negotiations.
"We were amendable to removing that clause so that there could be an advancement of one's career into a deputy public sector position, which obviously would pay more and has greater longevity," Sordi said. "Sheriff Labat's statement that he is looking to hire our employees directly demonstrates that upon entering the contract, the agreement was entered in bad faith."
Labat disagrees. He said he was helping employees in need of a job; and a jail in need of employees.
"The last thing I wanted to do is have anybody be unemployed," Labat said. "Ultimately, we have put ourselves in a position where we can create and maintain a safer environment by employing these individuals."
He said they are getting 10% raises for equivalent positions with the county, as well as benefits. He had heard from almost fifty SSC employees Thursday evening, which is about half of the ones they were contracting with.
"We have scheduled them accordingly so that we can create the safest possible environment that we have," Labat said. "I'm happy to onboard them as Fulton County employees because one thing that Fulton County does well is take care of its employees."