“Never take your guard force or your security people for granted,” Parsons said. “They did exactly what they were supposed to do.”
Certainly a tragedy, and from the looks of it, Big John didn’t have a chance to draw his .38. I guess the issue of body armor being requested by the union is on the front page as well. Although, I think if the guard wanted armor and the company wasn’t providing that, then the guard should have made it a personal responsibility to get that armor. In this industry, it behooves everyone to get their own armor if they are serious about their job.
There comes a point where a person must seek personal responsibility and ‘be prepared’. So from a Jundism point of view, the company failed to protect their employee with the necessary equipment (.38 revolver and no armor), or a refusal to”Take Care of Your People”. The security professional failed by not accomplishing the mission of getting a vest, if in fact they thought the post had a threat that required it-“Be Prepared”.
This is why I have bought all of my own equipment for this work, because it is not enough to depend upon the government or companies to provide everything. And if cost is an issue, then start creating a gear fund or put the word out and borrow that equipment until you can afford it. That is the Kaizen way, and to not continually prepare mentally or physically is not good. Invest in yourself, and do what you have to do to get ready-people’s lives depend on your readiness.
We should never stop holding these organizations accountable either, so that they do get this equipment to employees and contractors. But you cannot depend on them to do so and for every contract, until it is mandated by law or by the contract or both.
And if you are a student of OODA, and Destruction and Creation, and understand the concept behind OODA, then you can really see why ‘being prepared’ and having your own stuff or training is so important. Here is what Boyd had to say in his ‘Goals’ section of Destruction and Creation.
And of course, Big John could have had his own body armor, and wasn’t wearing it. Who knows, but I do know that he had been working that post since 2002. In this case, he made his judgement about the threat by not wearing a vest. And all of us do this out there, constantly weighing in on wearing the vest or having certain gear, and not having it or using. Mobility, actual threat and practicality issues are the big one here. Either way, it is hard to say in this case, but this is a story that all of us can learn from in the context of whatever job we are on.
Rest in peace to Big John, and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. He died in defense of others. –Matt
*****
Destruction and Creation, by Col. John Boyd
(second paragraph)
Studies of human behavior reveal that the actions we undertake as individuals are closely related to survival, more importantly, survival on our own terms. Naturally, such a notion implies that we should be able to act relatively free or independent of any debilitating external influences—otherwise that very survival might be in jeopardy. In viewing the instinct for survival in this manner we imply that a basic aim or goal, as individuals, is to improve our capacity for independent action. The degree to which we cooperate, or compete, with others is driven by the need to satisfy this basic goal. If we believe that it is not possible to satisfy it alone, without help from others, history shows us that we will agree to constraints upon our independent action—in order to collectively pool skills and talents in the form of nations, corporations, labor unions, mafias, etc.—so that obstacles standing in the way of the basic goal can either be removed or overcome. On the other hand, if the group cannot or does not attempt to overcome obstacles deemed important to many (or possibly any) of its individual members, the group must risk losing these alienated members. Under these circumstances, the alienated members may dissolve their relationship and remain independent, form a group of their own, or join another collective body in order to improve their capacity for independent action.
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In this image provided by the U.S. Holocaust Museum, museum guard Stephen T. Johns, is seen. Johns was killed Wednesday, June 10, 2009, in Washington, when an elderly gunman opened fire at the museum. (AP Photo/U.S. Holocaust Museum)
Grief, Shock After a ‘Gentle Giant’ Loses His Life in the Line of Duty
By Christian Davenport and Paul Duggan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Colleagues called Stephen T. Johns “Big John,” for he was well over 6 feet tall. But mostly friends recalled the security guard’s constant courtesy and friendliness.
“A soft-spoken, gentle giant,” said Milton Talley, a former employee of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where Johns was killed yesterday in the line of duty — shot, authorities said, by an avowed white supremacist who entered the museum with a rifle.
Details of the shooting remained sketchy last night, but apparently the 39-year-old, who was armed with a .38-caliber revolver, did not have time to react when James W. von Brunn walked into the museum, according to police sources.
“Immediately upon entering the front doors of the museum, he raised the rifle and started shooting,” D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said of von Brunn, 88, adding that he “was engaged by security guards, and there was an exchange of gunfire.”
When the smoke cleared, von Brunn was critically wounded. The only casualty among the guards was Johns, who lived in Prince George’s County. At least one bullet from a small-caliber rifle hit Johns in his upper-left torso, according to Johns’s employer, the Wackenhut security company.
“Two other . . . armed security officers opened fire with their service revolvers,” the company said. “The intruder was hit at once” and wounded.
Johns died at George Washington University Hospital.
“There are no words to express our grief and shock over these events,” the museum said in a statement, describing Johns as “an outstanding colleague who greeted us every day with a smile.”
Johns, a 1988 graduate of Crosslands High School in Temple Hills, lived in an apartment in the Temple Hills area. Friends said he had a son.
Allen Burcky, another former museum employee, said last night that workers there considered each other “like family” and that Johns was “very courteous, very helpful.”
Lourdes Padilla, the mother of a close friend, said that Johns trained as a plumber but that she didn’t think he had ever entered the trade. He remarried about a year ago, Padilla said.
Johns’s sister, Jacqueline Carter, declined to comment as she entered her home in Temple Hills. “She’s in bad shape right now,” said a man who was driving her.
Wackenhut describes itself as the U.S. government’s “largest contractor for professional security services.” An official with the union that represents Wackenhut employees at the museum said Johns was paid about $20 an hour.
“It’s a heavy loss,” said Assane Faye, the Washington district director of the Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America.
Like other guards at the museum, on Raoul Wallenberg Place SW near the Mall, Johns underwent training for which he received the D.C. police designation of “special police officer,” which permitted him to carry a revolver on duty.
Faye said that during contract negotiations with Wackenhut two years ago, the union pressed for company-issued protective vests. Although Wackenhut seemed open to the idea, vests have not been issued, Faye said.
“I hammered this in our negotiations two years ago because of how sensitive that museum is,” he said. “Our guards needed more protection.” He said that one of the guards at the museum was “verbally assaulted by one guy walking by, saying anti-Semitic remarks. For that reason, I made that the center of the negotiation.”
Authorities said Johns was not wearing a protective vest.
Susan Pitcher, a Wackenhut spokeswoman, declined to comment on the shooting beyond the company’s statement.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and director of the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, said officials at those institutions took immediate steps to enhance security after the shooting in Washington.
“The key component is not only to have your own security, but to work with the local police force,” he said. “In our case, the LAPD has a very good grasp of where all sorts of extremists might be and are able to deploy very quickly.”
William S. Parsons, the Holocaust museum’s chief of staff, praised Johns and his colleagues.
“Never take your guard force or your security people for granted,” Parsons said. “They did exactly what they were supposed to do.”
Story here.
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Union Wanted Bullet-Proof Vests for Holocaust Museum Security Guards
June 11, 2009
The union representing security guards at the Holocaust museum in Washington had been fighting for bullet-proof vests, but the company hadn’t issued them at the time of Wednesday’s deadly shooting.
One guard was killed when police say, a lone white supremacist gunman burst into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and opened fire.
Stephen T. Johns, 39, wasn’t wearing a protective vest when James W. von Brunn allegedly shot him, according to The Washington Post.
The Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America said the union lobbied security contractor Wackenhut Services Inc. for protective vests during contract negotiations two years ago, the Post reported.
But the company-bought vests weren’t provided, even though Wackenhut seemed in favor of the proposal, the union’s Washington district director Assane Faye told the Post.
“I hammered this in our negotiations two years ago because of how sensitive that museum is,” Faye said. “Our guards needed more protection.”
One of the museum’s guards had been “verbally assaulted by one guy walking by, saying anti-Semitic remarks,” Faye told the paper. “For that reason, I made that the center of the negotiation.”
Wackenhut spokeswoman Susan Pitcher declined to comment on the matter.
Johns worked for Wackenhut, which has contracted security services at the museum since 2002, according to a company statement. Johns had been posted at the museum since joining the firm in 2003. The museum has about 70 officers and supervisors on the force.
Guards are armed with .38-caliber revolvers and dress in police-type uniforms, the company said. It said preliminary details indicate the officers responded appropriately when facing the gunman, who opened fire with a rifle.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Story Here
