New Concordia officials love outsourcing. Outsource parking. Outsource sanitation. Outsource security. Soon, City Hall will outsource breathing and charge residents a convenience fee per lung.

Cross Security guards reportedly carried master keys inside a downtown apartment building. One allegedly entered a maintenance worker’s home and searched it on orders connected to a blackmail scheme. The company also supplied a fake fire extinguisher that recorded private meetings.

Where were the regulators? Probably studying a color-coded spreadsheet that rated Cross Security “compliant” because somebody submitted the paperwork before lunch.

A maintenance worker with an old laptop found the surveillance operation. A resident helped stop armed kidnappers with a screwdriver. A delivery van performed the forced entry. Government arrived after the shooting and put up tape.

The city will form a task force. The task force will recommend another contractor. How many felonies must a company commit before New Concordia stops calling it a public-private partnership?