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Jewel thieves mace security, employees during robbery www.privateofficer.com
Employees and patrons at the famous Boyd’s men’s clothing store in center city Philadelphia were shaken up but no one was seriously hurt as four men staged a smash-and-grab robbery at the upscale store on Thursday afternoon.
Police say the robbery happened in two stages. First, a couple of armed men overtook the Boyds security guard here at 1818 Chestnut Street with mace:
“They were wearing blackhooded sweatshirts, masks and gloves. They quickly overtook the security guard. They maced other employees.”
9th District police captain Dennis Wilson says not ten seconds later, two additional men with bags and hammers came in and smashed two display cases.
The men grabbed up handfuls of expensive jewelry and quickly made their escape.
Boyd’s later estimated the value of the stolen merchandise at $500,000.
And while Wilson says police believe at least one of the men had a silver revolver, no one was seriously injured:
“There was a few people maced. And there was definitely mace in the store, we were having problems with it when we first went in.”
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Philadelphia school crime at record level www.privateofficer.com
Crime spiked in Philadelphia schools last year, hitting a record level.
Nearly 15,000 criminal incidents were reported in 2007-08, a 14 percent jump from the previous school year, according to an analysis by Philadelphia’s safe schools advocate obtained by The Inquirer.
The number of serious crimes, however, dropped by 7 percent, and district officials say all crime is down by 11 percent so far this school year.
No students were expelled last school year – even those who brought guns to school – and just 31 percent were transferred to alternative education placements.
That’s a violation of state law, the report said.
There is a silver lining, according to the document, which was written in February but has not been released.
Under Superintendent Arlene Ackerman this school year, the district has begun taking school crime more seriously and expelling its most violent students. And improved incident reporting means that officials have a better grip on the state of violence inside Philadelphia’s 281 public schools, said the state-appointed advocate, Jack Stollsteimer.
Ackerman, Stollsteimer wrote, has “reversed the district leadership’s previous indifferent attitude to the rising level of violence within the city’s public schools. That indeed is a great achievement, a starting point to making our schools safe havens for learning.”
James Golden, the district’s security chief, agreed that district discipline is improving.
“I think it owes, in part at least, to the new zero-tolerance policy, the number of expulsions, the stepped-up disciplinary measures that have been taken,” Golden said yesterday. “We know that the trend for us is positive.”
Overall misbehavior – which includes offenses ranging from weapons possession and fighting to vandalism and disorderly conduct – for last school year was not out of the ordinary, Golden said.
“We certainly want to reduce the level of violent incidents that we see; however, the numbers that we’re talking about are within the normal range of incident data that we’ve seen in the past four or five years,” he said.
So far this school year, the School Reform Commission has voted on 33 expulsions, mostly for aggravated assaults on teachers, administrators and students, said Ben Wright, the district’s head of alternative education. In all, 12 students were permanently expelled, 13 students were temporarily expelled, and eight students were not expelled.
More than 100 cases are in the pipeline, Wright said.
Before this school year, no student had been removed from the system for three years. Stollsteimer had long criticized the district’s prior stance against expulsion as illegal and harmful to student safety, a position that earned him the wrath of some state and district officials.
Despite the positive trend this school year, Stollsteimer’s report paints a different picture of 2007-08. Crime was not always reported to city police, as legally required, he wrote. In all, 41 percent of the most serious cases were not reported to police.
“And from a review of incident reports when cases were reported to police, all too many times police officers refused to take appropriate action, sometimes at the direction of school officials,” Stollsteimer wrote.
Golden said that school administrators and city police make joint decisions about whether arrests are warranted. Two middle-schoolers who get into a simple fistfight, for instance, should not be arrested, he said.
Often, the report said, the most serious offenders – including those who assaulted teachers – were neither expelled nor transferred to alternative education. Just 24 percent of the 1,728 students who assaulted teachers were removed from regular education classrooms, and only 30 percent of them were charged by police, the report said.
Wright said that under Ackerman, the district has gotten better at investigating each alleged disciplinary infraction. The district now has a wider range of ways to deal with problem students, from suspension to removal to help for students with emotional problems.
“Kids are not just sent to alternative schools,” Wright said. “Every alleged incident is investigated, and some are unfounded. The needs of the student are taken into consideration.”
Still, he said, the district must keep better records. Unfounded incidents should be removed from that most serious category for state reporting purposes, but sometimes they are not, Wright said.
Stollsteimer also sounded an alarm about safety in elementary and middle schools, concluding that virtually all of the 479 weapons discovered inside elementary and middle schools were found inside classrooms and hallways. Three-quarters of the 357 weapons found at high schools were detected at the front door.
The safe-schools advocate called for metal detectors in all city schools, a position district officials oppose.
Though crime rose overall, in 2007-08 the number of serious crimes committed by students in grades 5 through 12 dropped by 7 percent, to 4,848. And Golden said violent incidents this school year are down 13 percent, and all incidents are down 11 percent.
Even before Ackerman’s arrival, there was some movement on school safety, Stollsteimer said. The district acted on several of his earlier recommendations last school year, including creating a superintendent’s safety cabinet, reinstating longer suspensions, designating a safety administrator at every school, and streamlining the disciplinary process.
The numbers may look startling, Stollsteimer wrote, but the news is actually good.
“While this number of school crimes is disturbing, policymakers should note that this is in fact a good thing; we simply can’t begin to effectively deal with school violence until we know the scope and extent of the problem we face,” the report said.
Stollsteimer recommended that the district support its new, tougher stance on discipline with more resources and staff to handle an increased flow of disciplinary paperwork and expand its alternative education slots. He also called on the state to tighten reporting standards, train and certify school police officers, and create an independent, state-level Office of Safe Schools.
Reached yesterday, Stollsteimer said the tide has turned.
“I am pleased to report that under Dr. Ackerman’s leadership, the district has committed to complying with the law and addressing the terrible problem of violence in its schools,” he said. “The challenge now is to ensure that the commitment is sustained and matched by resources at the school level.”
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American Airlines crew chief charged in thefts www.privateofficer.com
philadelphiaenquirer.com
An American Airlines baggage-crew chief faces two theft charges after being arrested at Philadelphia International Airport, according to Philadelphia police.
Christopher Shaw, 37, of Reading, was taken into custody around 4:45 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, said Officer Christine O’Brien, a police spokeswoman.
A Pennsylvania woman noticed four new articles of clothing missing from her luggage after returning home March 17 on American Flight 892 from Dallas.
The price tags, totaling $550, were still on the items, which were purchased at Galleria Nordstrom in Dallas, police said.
The woman had her Texas condo checked and then contacted Nordstrom, which later discovered that the items had been returned to its King of Prussia store. Philadelphia police took over the investigation, which led to Shaw’s arrest. A hearing is set for May 1.
American Airlines helped solve this case, said corporate spokesman Tim Smith.
“Any time we have any suspicions or become aware of a situation, we’re going to get involved and be very proactive in rooting out anything that’s not right,” he said. “This specific case drew our suspicion in several ways . . . and one thing led to another.”
He called the case unusual. “We have roughly 75,000 honest, very hard-working employees,” he said.
In an unrelated incident, Transportation Safety Administration investigators removed a lead TSA official from his airport duties Wednesday for alleged theft from passenger bags.
TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said the agency’s Office of Investigations was overseeing the allegations.
“He hasn’t been charged as of yet or dismissed,” she said. “If the Office of Inspections deems it appropriate, we could present a case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
Davis would not identify the TSA official except to say he is a mid-level employee involved in passenger bag screenings at the airport. She could not confirm reports that the alleged theft involved electronics or say whether the individual was being paid during the investigation.
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Philly police arrest suspect in security officer shooting www.privateofficer.com
Investigators said 29-year-old Jermaine Goodman was taken into custody Friday in connection to the March 22 incident. Goodman was arrested without incident in the 1600 block of Christian Street in South Philadelphia.
“We’re happy in two respects; one in that our victim gets some satisfaction that this male is off the street, he’s a very violent individual we had some serious concerns about,” Lt. John Walker said. “Today is actually Mr. Goodman’s birthday, so we brought him into custody on his birthday, so law enforcement gets an opportunity to have a little bit of celebration.”
The guard attempted to stop Goodman after he was allegedly spotted placing merchandise in his pockets. Goodman then ran into the parking lot after being confronted by the guard.
While in a back room of the store, police said Goodman removed a handgun from his pocket and allegedly shot the guard in the forehead and shoulder.
“While inside the security room, he’s conversing with him about his biographical information, name, date of birth and things such as that, when the offender pulls a gun from his rear pocket and fires three times,” Lt. Walker explained.
The guard was rushed to Temple University Hospital in critical, but stable condition. On Monday he was upgraded to fair condition and spoke to CBS 3 by phone.
“I put my hands up to defend myself and there was a struggle and then the gun came out and a couple shots were fired off and I couldn’t get out of the way in time, you know, to keep from getting hit,” the guard said.
Goodman is reportedly a regular shopper at the Pathmark location and had used his grandmother’s Pathmark Savings and state issued access cards to make purchases.
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$700,000 armored car heist leaves questions www.privateofficer.com
$700,000 armored car heist leaves questions http://www.privateofficer.com
NTL. ASSOC. PRIVATE OFFICERS
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Police in Philly are still looking for at least two people of unknown race, age, or other descriptions who held up an armored car and got away with over $700,000 police said late Saturday.
The armored car was robbed Friday morning when it was making a stop at a check cashing store and was approached by two possibly male subjects armed and wearing hoodies police said.
Eyewitnesses say that two men wearing hoodies were seen running away from the scene.
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OFFICER DOWN Patrick McDonald www.privateofficer.com
OFFICER DOWN Patrick McDonald http://www.privateofficer.com
Biographical Info Age: 30
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OFFICER DOWN ISABEL NAZARIO www.privateofficer.com
OFFICER DOWN Officer Isabel Nazario http://www.privateofficer.com
Security guard arrested for posting threats against police on YouTube www.privateofficer.com
Security guard arrested for posting threats against police on YouTube http://www.privateofficer.com
According to authorities, officers confirmed this and the man was arrested after authorities said he posted an Internet video in which he waves a gun and says he is “joyous” whenever a police officer is shot in the city.
Andre Moore, 44, of West Philadelphia, was in custody Thursday awaiting arraignment on charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, corruption of morals of a minor and harassment, said police Lt. John Walker.
In the video posted on YouTube, a man authorities identified as Moore complains about officers in the city’s 18th police district in West Philadelphia, calling them “a bunch of liars.”
“That’s why I’m joyous whenever they shoot a cop in Philadelphia,” he says
At another point, he is shown waving a gun and talking about shootings of officers in the city.
“Boom! … When you shoot the cop, you shoot them dead, OK? Anywhere, head or the heart. That’s why the last cops lost their lives,” he says.
Three city police officers have been killed in the line of duty in just over two years.
An arrest warrant was issued for Moore after he was identified in the video posted June 7, said Kevin Harley, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office. Moore was arrested at his apartment Thursday, police said.
The video was removed from YouTube following the arrest.
“We believe these were terroristic threats that are not protected by the First Amendment, particularly when he encourages people to promote violence in Philadelphia and when he shows people how to use a gun to shoot a cop,” Harley said.
Arrest documents said Moore works as a security guard at Albert Einstein Medical Center, where Officer Chuck Cassidy died after being shot during a robbery on Oct. 31.
Moore remained in custody Thursday and it was unclear whether he had an attorney.
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OFFICER DOWN…………..PA. www.privateofficer.com
OFFICER DOWN………PA. http://www.privateofficer.com
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Low paid guards have even bigger headaches! www.privateofficer.com
Low paying guards have even bigger payroll headaches! www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia PA. Dec. 13, 2007
Being a security guard in the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s Westpark Towers is not a good job. You sit all day in a tiny booth, in the lobby of a West Philly high rise, and flip a switch to grant entry to project residents. You’re given minimal training, no gun and there’s no bulletproof glass to protect you. If you witness a crime, you’re expected to notify PHA police, then sit and wait. And your pay rate is paltry — just above $7 an hour, with no benefits. You’d expect, at least, to actually get paid.
But for guards employed by one PHA subcontractor, collecting remuneration has become a challenge lately. The Bethlehem-based Oakley Services Inc. holds the security contract for 11 Philadelphia public housing sites; PHA pays Oakley to provide security, and Oakley hires and pays guards. In recent months, however, Oakley has struggled to keep its end of the bargain: It’s been habitually late in delivering its employees’ compensation; has failed to provide payment in full; has written checks that bounced; and has even, on two occasions, paid its guards in cash.
The trouble began on Friday, Aug. 24. It was supposed to be a payday, but that afternoon, instead of delivering checks, an Oakley supervisor came to Westpark and said the guards would have to wait until Tuesday for their compensation.
“No reason, no explanation,” says a guard who, like several others, asked that her name not be used for fear of retribution.
Tuesday came and went without pay. A few days later, Oakley guards from numerous sites were summoned to the community center at the Westpark development (near 46th and Market, it includes three high-rise towers). There, they saw PHA police standing over a table covered with piles of cash. The guards were handed their checks, told that, for logistical reasons, they would have to sign them back over, and then given their pay (rounded to the nearest dollar) in cash.
The following Friday, Sept. 7, the guards were due to be paid again. This time they were given envelopes containing cash equal to about half of what they’d earned. One guard’s envelope was labeled: “NET 457.60. Received $250.00.”
“They still owe us from that half,” says a guard.
Oakley attempted to prove to its guards that it was trying to pay them. It passed out a memo, dated Aug. 31 on Oakley letterhead, stating, “Due to financial miscommunication with our contractor Philadelphia Housing Authority our employees at Oakley security has [sic] not been paid since 8/8/07 … we are trying to expedite this matter as quickly as possible.” It also supplied a copy of an e-mail, sent Aug. 23 from Oakley’s Jennifer Cunningham to PHA’s Alicia Wilson, asking PHA to wire $45,000 into Oakley’s account so the company could make payroll. Cunningham makes reference to “outstanding invoices” and writes, “We are really in a tough spot right now and need some assistance.”
Still, the problems persisted. Though Oakley resumed paying guards with checks, payment was rarely punctual. Payday was moved to Wednesday, but the guards waited until Thursday, Friday and the next week for their compensation. When the guards received their checks, another problem arose: Some were no good.
“A couple of times they sent me to the bank and my paycheck bounced,” says former Oakley guard Artellia Fisher. Another guard cashed her check at Terminal Check Service Inc. at Broad and Olney, and was later informed that the check had been rejected.
“The bank said there was no money in the account,” says Marvin Sabulsky, proprietor of Terminal Check Cashing. Sabulsky says he faxed proof of the problem to Oakley and when he didn’t hear back, filed a claim against them for $498.29. He won’t accept checks from the company anymore.
Fisher says the problems got so bad that guards “had to [cash their checks] that very day, because if you go tomorrow, there might not be any money left.
“This,” she says, “is ridiculous.”
Oakley Services Inc. was founded in 1992 by Robert Oakley Jr. In addition to security, the certified minority-owned business performs private investigations, forensics and construction management. It received its contract with PHA through an open-bid process, according to PHA spokesman Kirk Dorn. The agreement, which began in April 2005 and expires in April 2010, calls for Oakley to provide security at 11 sites for 700 hours a week. Oakley is paid $14.42 per position, per hour (this rate covers the guards, administrative costs and profits). It employs about 65 guards. Asked about Oakley’s struggles to make payroll, Dorn says, “Oakley is very good at providing security. Unfortunately, they haven’t been so good about providing paperwork.” PHA requires Oakley to submit invoices, Dorn explains, which Oakley has frequently failed to do. As a result, PHA hasn’t paid them on time, and Oakley hasn’t had money to pay guards.
PHA and Oakley have met to discuss this problem, and Oakley has committed to meet deadlines, Dorn says — though guards say their pay continues to arrive late. Should the problem persist, of course, the quality of Oakley’s service could be compromised, because guards could quit or take the job less seriously.
“If they continue [to miss deadlines], we would have to take action at some point,” Dorn says.
Oakley headquarters did not return repeated calls for comment on its paperwork problems, cash payments, and whether it intends to reimburse Terminal Check Cashing or provide guards with the remaining half of a check they say they are owed. While Oakley’s problems may stem from minor logistical errors, their effects have been anything but small to those who’ve borne the brunt of the mistakes. Many Oakley guards live paycheck to paycheck, and have struggled to pay bills.
“We can’t keep telling the landlord we didn’t get paid this week,” says one. Indeed, guards have received eviction and shut-off notices; one suffered the indignity, more appropriate for a child out sick from school, of having an Oakley supervisor write a letter to PGW confirming that she hadn’t received her pay.
A few weeks ago, Oakley employees contacted the local Jobs with Justice chapter, which they knew was working to provide representation to security guards at Penn and Temple in the absence of a union [News, "Allied Affront," Aug. 28, 2007]. JWJ put the guards in touch with a lawyer, who may represent them in a class-action lawsuit, and is investigating whether Oakley is in violation of wage laws for government-funded jobs (PHA receives city and federal funding, and it’s possible they could be required to give the guards a raise).
In the meantime, numerous working Philadelphians who were barely scraping by to begin with are having an even harder time of it. One Oakley guard who spent more than half his life incarcerated for robbery, drug and parole-violation charges, says his security job is the cornerstone of his effort to get on the straight and narrow. He doesn’t think his family will allow him to fall back into a life of crime. But not getting paid for his honest work has made the straight path that much harder to follow.
“If I can’t rely on a job … ” he says, trailing off.
Security officer exposes self to student www.privateofficer.com
Security officer exposes self to student www.privateofficer.com
Philadelphia Pa. Nov. 15, 2007
An AlliedBarton security guard exposed himself to a female student after he escorted her home Monday night, Division of Public Safety officials said yesterday.The guard offered to escort the student from 38th and Sansom streets to her house, near 41st and Locust streets, at about 9:00 p.m. They arrived at her door, and he said something to get the student’s attention. When she turned around, he had exposed himself.The security guard, 21, was arrested shortly after the incident was reported and has permanently been removed from campus. He did not have a criminal record, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said.The guard’s name has not been released because the victim has chosen not to press charges, Philadelphia Police officials said.
An e-mail that circulated through several Penn listservs last night suggested that the man may have been an imposter wearing a stolen AlliedBarton uniform, but Rush and AlliedBarton officials said that the offender was in fact a security guard, and that no AlliedBarton uniforms have been stolen or misplaced.Rush also said that a series of programs have been immediately implemented to prevent similar incidents.
All escorts will now have to carry visible photo IDs and service cards with their names on them to give to anyone whom they escort home.In addition to these measures, Rush said the minimum age for security guards is being raised from 21 to 25 to ensure that guards are “mature enough” to handle the job.Penn has contracted its security services from AlliedBarton since 1996, and, according to spokesman Larry Rubin, the company has never had a similar experience.”It is without a doubt one of the worst moments for the Allied team,” Rush said. “They’re heartbroken.”She also had harsh words for the security guard in question.”He betrayed our trust. I am furious,” she said. “It’s really important that you take this as one example and not forget the example that all the other [security guards] have set since 1996.”Rush added that all AlliedBarton security guards go through extensive training about sexual harassment and violence against women before they are hired.
Following the incident, officials have stressed to guards once again to follow rules and regulations, Rush said.As far as long-term changes go, Rubin said AlliedBarton is completing a survey “to re-evaluate and reiterate the responsibilities and expectations of all officers working in escort assignments.”Rush also stressed that students should still feel comfortable calling an escort, especially in light of the sexual assault involving a female student Monday morning.”This is not the time to not use walking escorts because of this incident,” she said.However, most students interviewed said their views on the escort service have been swayed. College senior Elyse Monti said she would still call in for an escort if she needed one but with “much, much more caution.”Others, like Wharton senior Jessica Trief, still see the escort as a valuable resource.”I don’t think all the security guards are like that. I think it’s a one person thing, so I wouldn’t be scared to use it again,” she said.
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