Review of Pa. governor's mansion security failings is complete, but findings are not released
Published in News & Features
HARRISBURG, Pa. — An independent review of the security failings at the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg that enabled last month’s arson attack to occur has been completed, but its findings are not being publicly released.
“The sensitive nature of the specific findings uncovered as a result of our review precludes their release to the public for obvious reasons,” said security consultant Jeffrey B. Miller in a statement. “Security measures in place to protect the Governor and his family are treated as protected information.”
Miller, who led the Pennsylvania State Police as its commissioner from 2003 to 2008 under former Gov. Ed Rendell before going on to lead security operations for the National Football League, was contracted by the state law enforcement agency to review the incident, as well as current security systems and protocols. The group will be paid $23,489 for the security assessment, according to the emergency contract approved last month.
In conducting the assessment, Miller and his firm said they performed a site visit and examined various security measures in place the night of April 13, when Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, allegedly scaled a protective fence with a bag of Molotov cocktails and set fire to to the residence in an effort to harm Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family. Among the factors looked at were personnel deployments, training, surveillance, fire suppression, and emergency plans and drills, Miller said.
The group also interviewed personnel on duty the night of the attack, as well as supervisors at the state police’s Executive Services Office, among other steps, he added.
After performing its security assessment, Miller’s group made recommendations to address the failings they found to the state police and Shapiro’s office. Those recommendations, Miller said, would not be shared publicly.
“I am confident that if fully implemented, the key recommendations that we have made will prevent an attack of this nature from succeeding in the future,” he said. Miller added that he expects the state police and Shapiro’s office to “act swiftly to implement our recommendations.”
Neither Shapiro’s office nor the state police immediately responded to requests for comment.
State police initially said they were internally reviewing what went wrong in the breach of the mansion’s security on April 13. But by the end of the week, questions remained about how Pennsylvania’s governor was put so close to danger, and state lawmakers began taking interest in empaneling their own investigations into what happened.
Miller joined the state police in 1984, rising through the ranks until he reached the level of commissioner in 2003. After leaving Pennsylvania, Miller worked as the chief of security for the NFL, and at one time also served as the head of security for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Shapiro, in a news conference last month, said he was confident there would be changes and lessons learned by state police following the incident.
Exact details of security at the residence — as well as in-depth knowledge of Shapiro’s 24/7 protective detail — are kept under wraps by state police to protect from security threats.
The Department of General Services, one of the state agencies responsible for upkeep of the governor’s mansion, approved a $26,000 contract on Tuesday with security firm Vector Security to upgrade and expand its “wireless security system” that was, in part, damaged in the fire, according to the contract.
State House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R., Bedford) on Thursday told reporters that officials ought to inform the public about how the attack on the governor’s mansion occurred, and address any identified security failures.
“I do think what happened and why it happened — the failures of the system — we do need some accountability for that,” Topper said at the state Capitol. “And transparency is the best way to provide that.”
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