It has been revealed that the army has been put on standby to provide extra security staff because the firm with the contract for security at Olympic venues, GS4, has been unable to guarantee that it will be able to provide the number of security personnel it was originally contracted to. This highlights one of the risks of contracting out key services to private firms for major events such as the Olympics which have no room for failure or delay, and might also point to the potential difficulties of the police privatisation threatened by the head of GS4 no less. The problem of moral hazard is not just confined to contracts in the realm of security, however.
