Monday, March 3, 2008

New Developments in Security around the Baltimore area

  1. Apparently, the burglaries at Bryn Mawr and Boys' Latin earlier in the year have evolved into becoming "whodunits": it now appears that unless the stolen property suddenly appears somewhere, this case will never be solved. I wonder about what, if anything, the two schools are doing with their contract security service-Abacus.
  2. Buz suggested that the rear door of Alonso's needed additional securing after a server was robbed on a smoke break a couple of weeks ago. Eddie installed several powerful lights and video cameras in the immediate area.
  3. The rape of the Roland Park woman  last summer has apparently become a "whodunit" along with that of the GEDCO employee, and now the city school student who was reportedly waiting for a bus at 33rd and Greenmount.
  4. Article in the Sun reports that landlords have a website they can go to to find out about bad tenants. Consultant feels that if proper tenant checking is done, one will not have to  use such a website--usually. The first step is getting good ID and security deposit from the tenant, as well as a check of employment and past references. Try not to rely on phone numbers the prospective gives you for employers.
  5. Did you know that landlords are the most-sued of all businesses?
  6. The Reader's Digest just did a survey of college security situations and our Johns Hopkins Homewood came out #1 in the country. Loyola was #14. Kudos to former Secret Service honcho Ed Skrodzki at Hopkins and "Colonel" Tim Fox at Loyola.
  7. MICA is looking for a new Director of Campus Safety. Applications close this week.
  8. The Sun had a chilling article that the murder of Correctional Officer David McGuinn may have been ordered by corrupt guards--his colleagues. Buz wondered why no one could explain, right after his murder, why or who ordered his return to the tier after threats were made against him. And everything about that was all hush-hush. What's up with all that. Now the AG's office doesn't want anything released to the killer's defense attorneys about the alleged CO's personnel records. Well, forget that..........what about the killer's allegations. Of course, all those cell phones the gangsters in jail buy, and have, and use have to somehow get into and be used in the institutions somehow. Hmmmm.
  9. Poor new fire chief Clack is coming to Bmore, and making the same mistake former Commissioner Frazier did. He's not bringing in several new command staff members to watch his back. I wish him well, but the signs area not hopeful, especially since they don't believe in para-military style discipline in Minneapolis (though it has failed us several times in Baltimore recently.)
  10. Dan Rodricks has another article over the weekend about prisoners wanting help to get jobs, etc. when they get out. Buz suggests one solid thing which might help: DOC should ensure that each inmate, before they get out, has a Maryland State ID, and a Social Security card. I see lots of ex-offenders who don't have either or neither. Also, the first week they are incarcerated is the time to start working with them to get ready to get released, not their last few weeks: I'm talking GED, drug treatment, and life skills. I've learned that the vast majority are not interested til they start thinking near the ends of their sentences. Well, people make decisions!

2 comments:

ppatin said...

It sounds like you think the fire department is in bad shape.

Also, why in the world has the CO murder story not attracted more media attention. I mean if it's true that other COs ordered a hit on officer McGuinn then that ought to be a very very big deal!

buzoncrime said...

I agree. The last I recall, the DOC said the issue of why McGuinn was assigned to work back on the tier was "under investigation". And yeah, you would think that that would be a real big deal. When you combine that with the crime-scene investigation the day of the murder, one wonders: who is in charge at the prisons?

The fire department is probably not in that bad a shape, but they have some issues, like rigidity and poor "well, we've always done it that way" thinking. If you're coming from out of town to take the job, it's probably better to come in strong, then loosen up later. Also, it's a little hard to make changes if you don't have a team in place you can trust. Also, I could not help but notice that on the national news after the interstate bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Clack appeared. Though, he had supposedly "directed operations" for hours and hours and hours, he was interviewed in a crisp, clean, ironed shirt and pants, and appeared clean-shaven, with a fire helmet tucked under his arm. Now, maybe he just got a quick clean-up break before his big interview. But it clearly looked staged--especially the part with his helmet tucked under his arm. I remember when a lot of cops dubbed Frazier "TV Tom"; this had all of the same earmarks. I looked worse after one routine midnite shift. Nevertheless, I wish him well, but don't think he's going to last anywhere near what he did in Minneapolis.