>If your org is large enough there is no way outsourcing is cheaper - it may be “easier”, but it inherently must cost more.
I would agree with this if you were talking about a real business, but this is government. An island full of 14 year olds can't be trusted to operate a power plant, even if they outnumber the employees of Pacific Gas & Electric. It's not a choice between outsource vs insource security, it's a choice between security or none at all.
You're missing the point - there is a company that has employees that can [ostensibly] do the job you need. It's a free market so you could directly employ those people, and in that case you get the same level of expertise and you aren't paying for the outsourcing company's overhead.
Obviously employing those exact people may not be possible, but theoretically a large enough city can draw others of similar skill.
I would agree with this if you were talking about a real business, but this is government. An island full of 14 year olds can't be trusted to operate a power plant, even if they outnumber the employees of Pacific Gas & Electric. It's not a choice between outsource vs insource security, it's a choice between security or none at all.