Security

The Herald-Mail on Thursday sent nine reporters to nine Tri-State area schools so we could check for ourselves the level of security at those schools. A special report outlines the results of those visits with the intent of pointing out where security can be tightened to improve student safety. See Sunday's Herald-Mail for the full stories.

scottb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - In order to improve patient security, Washington County Hospital has started requiring non-employees to get authorization to enter the building between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., spokeswoman Kelly Redmond said Monday. Security guards and hospital nurses will give one-day, color-coded passes to those authorized to enter the building during those hours, Redmond said. The requirement began Monday. People will be required to give their names and where they need to go inside the hospital, she said.

HAGERSTOWN - The second meeting of the school security cross-functional team Wednesday produced initiatives and action steps that could be implemented in the county's public schools. The group of about 50, including parents, law enforcement officials, community security experts and Washington County Public Schools personnel, met for the first time earlier this month. The group has been asked to brainstorm ways to improve safety at the county's schools and prioritize security needs.

Some federal agencies in the Tri-State area began increasing security in response to fighting in Iraq while several remained unchanged from conditions tied to the federal "code orange" threat level. Maryland C&O National Historic Park. All visitor facilities remain open on regular schedule and the park service plans on a full opening for spring, a spokesman said. The threat alert has increased park security, and police are checking neighboring facilities as well. Antietam National Battlefield.

Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening's budget includes $6.3 million for a new fence and other security measures at one of the state prisons south of Hagerstown. Although the amount is more than $2 million higher than the cost of the new District Court building being built in Hagerstown, state prison officials said the work is a routine upgrade. Dave Towers, a spokesman for the Maryland Division of Correction, said the state plans to upgrade an inner fence at the Maryland Correctional Training Center and replace the outer fence.

HAGERSTOWN When Pangborn Elementary School was locked down for about a half hour Monday afternoon, school officials were paged and met to discuss a plan. Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Carol Mowen said officials met in a command center to determine what response was needed. Officials would not say Monday why the school was locked down, and Hagerstown Police said the matter was under investigation. Procedures like the one used at Pangborn Elementary School did not exist in the county before a safety and security specialist/risk manager position was developed in 2003.

HAGERSTOWN - A Smithsburg resident and law enforcement veteran is the new safety and security specialist/risk manager for Washington County Public Schools. Steven L. Ganley has nearly 25 years of experience in that field and has several commendations for achievements in the areas of safety, response and crime prevention. School board members unanimously approved Ganley for the position along with other personnel changes during a Tuesday night business meeting. The school system's previous security specialist, E. Paul Rudolph, was hired Aug. 26, 2003.

pepperb@herald-mail.com The Washington County Board of Education is looking to hire a safety and security specialist for the school system, after finding one position could eliminate extra work for other departments. School officials tentatively are calling it a risk management position, but will not hire someone to fill it until sometime in July, pending funding from the Washington County Commissioners, William Blum, chief operating officer for the system, said Tuesday.

The second meeting of the school security cross-functional team Wednesday produced initiatives and action steps that could be implemented in the county's public schools. The group of about 50, including parents, law enforcement officials, community security experts and Washington County Public Schools personnel, met for the first time earlier this month. The group has been asked to brainstorm ways to improve safety at the county's schools and prioritize security needs. The group focused Wednesday on school system staff training, emergency response, after-hour activities at schools, school security policies and violence prevention.

HAGERSTOWN - When Pangborn Elementary School was locked down for about a half hour Monday afternoon, school officials were paged and met to discuss a plan. Washington County Public Schools spokeswoman Carol Mowen said officials met in a command center to determine what response was needed. Officials would not say Monday why the school was locked down, and Hagerstown Police said the matter was under investigation. Procedures like the one used at Pangborn Elementary School did not exist in the county before a safety and security specialist/risk manager position was developed in 2003.

Brett Hill, a lifelong Chicago Bears fan from Shippensburg, Pa., represented his favorite team on the podium in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday, calling out its pick, Khaseem Greene, after winning a trip to the draft through an online sweepstakes. “It was pretty incredible,” the 45-year-old said. “Just for an NFL fan there's nothing like it other than a game.” Hill, who is the director of security for AlliedBarton Security Services at Valley Mall in Hagerstown, won an all-expense paid trip to the draft and was taken to New York City with his girlfriend in a Limo that picked them up at his house.

Jason Hitchner's defense attorney said a combination of a traumatic brain injury and alcohol consumption left him with little recollection of sexually abusing two children, but Washington County Circuit Court Judge Daniel P. Dwyer went with the state's recommendation and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. Hitchner, 30, pleaded guilty in December to sex abuse of a minor and a second-degree sex offense charge in exchange for other related charges being dropped. At the time of the plea, the state recommended Hitchner be sentenced to 15 years.

State Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, has been selected to serve on the newly formed Pennsylvania House of Representatives Select Committee on School Safety and Security, which is tasked with developing and examining legislation to enhance the protection of school students and personnel. “As a father and former educator, I am absolutely dedicated to making sure our schools are able to provide a safe and secure environment in which our children can learn and grow,” Rock said in a news release.

Two Franklin County Career and Technology Center students will compete against students from across the country next month for more than $3 million in prizes and scholarships. Brandon Clever, a senior in the Greencastle-Antrim School District, and Josh Long, a senior who is home-schooled from Greencastle-Antrim, are third-semester students in Bobby Bard's automotive technology class at the center. Bard is a big believer in Brandon and Josh's talents after seeing them roll over the competition at the state level on Feb. 21 in Hershey, Pa. These are the guys you want working on your cars, Bard said about his “winning team.” Brandon and Josh faced teams from nine other Pennsylvania schools in a three-hour, hands-on test of diagnostic skills.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather whose life as a CIA agent was portrayed in the Academy Award winning film “Argo,” 17-year-old Phil McField proved how to crack online passwords in fewer than five minutes Friday at Washington County Technical High School's inaugural Cyber Security Awareness Day. “In the art of infiltration, in stealing data (and) bringing it back to a secure location, my grandfather did that for about 30 or 40 years, and I'm kind of following in his footsteps involving technology and computers and cyber security,” said McField, a WCTHS senior who served as an extra in the film based on Antonio “Tony” Mendez's experience during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979.

Requiring visitors to public schools to present identification and having students carry ID cards were two ideas raised by Washington County Board of Education members during a recent policy committee meeting. The committee, which consists of three board members, reviewed three school security policies during its Feb. 28 meeting at the school system's central office. Board President Justin Hartings said it was worth reviewing the school security policies and seeing how they “might come into the 21st century.” If people want to visit a school, they should provide identification, Hartings said.

Have you ever worked for a company that one day suddenly went bankrupt? I have written several columns about cities and companies that have filed for bankruptcy protection, but not until recently had I worked for a company that filed for bankruptcy. It is an interesting experience. TW & Company was a government contractor that provided security services for 22 contracts in the country and had a workforce of 617 employees. One of the most significant assignments of this contractor was the responsibility to dispose of the White House's records.

Washington County Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore said Wednesday that it's possible that teachers, in addition to school administrators, will soon be involved in security training for schools and that another school resource officer position might be created this year to increase security in schools. Mullendore's comments come as police and school officials have been reviewing school safety procedures recently following the Dec. 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., that left 20 children, six adults and the shooter dead.

Pennsylvania State Police are investigating a bank robbery that took place Thursday afternoon on U.S. 30, east of Chambersburg near Walmart in Guilford Township, Pa. An unidentified male entered M&T Bank at 1798 Lincoln Way East (U.S. 30) and demanded money from the teller, Trooper 1st Class Chris Ott said in a news release. The man, who got away with an undetermined amount of cash, then placed a package on the teller's counter and “made reference to a bomb,” Ott said. The man fled the bank through the front door and crossed U.S. 30 to the north of the building, Ott said.