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To: Mr. Leon Freeman, Interim School Bd. Adm.
From: Mr. Thomas Hewes-Eddinger, Chief of Security
Date: December 16, 2008
Re: Bi-weekly Report of Security Department Activity-
December 2, 2008December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 attended a security staff meeting at
Catto School
concerning badges and handcuffs.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008 responded to a school lock down at
Wiggins andFetters Elementary due to a homicide outside of Wiggins.
On Tuesday, December 9,
2008, NJ State Police performed narcotics sweeps in the area at
our request.
Thursday, December 4, 2008 issued a redeployment of the
Operations Officers
into an oversight capacity of designated schools.
Monday, December 8, 2008 met with Principal Richards at Woodrow
Wilson
High School.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008 met with Ms. Jamal the Principal at
CamdenHigh School and a team from the Superintendents office headed
by Asst. Superintendent
Dr. Davida Coe-Brockington. I told the team that any security
deployment plan needed
the full participation of school staff, security personnel and
students to be successful. Iwas told there was not enough security
or staff to handle the volume of students. I
advised that any staff could be expanded by due diligence in
being pro active in the
monitoring room, hallways, dead zones, the outside perimeter of
the school and largergathering areas like the cafeteria and
auditorium. They should close off and lock any
areas not in use. I was told the recent disruptions at Camden
High School were due to a
decreased security staff and an increase in the number of adult
students and because of a
mad rush of intoxicated students thru the front door past
security at 8:45am. I was
given the names of five (5) security officers Ms. Jamal felt
were not doing their jobs andI was asked to transfer them. I
explained to her (as I had already told other Principals
who had called and asked a similar question) that I would not
transfer a chronic problememployee to another school and another
Principal. I told her that Administrative staff
needed to document the employees conduct and to pass it up the
Chain of Command for
progressive discipline. I further advised Ms. Jamal to place
staff at the front entrance ofthe school to counter the mad rush,
corral those students and have the school nurse
evaluate them. I promised I would personally evaluate the
assigned staff and see about
increasing the level of security staff. Again, I told the team
that a concerted effort ofsecurity and staff needed to work
together.
B. LeFra Young, Ph. D.Superintendent
Security
Thomas Hewes-Eddinger
Chief of Security
Josephine Garcia
Operations Officer
Pamela ChristyClerk
201 N. Front Street, Camden, NJ 08102, Tel.: 856.966.2101/2102
Fax:856.966.2144
CAMDEN CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Security Department
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When leaving, I walked some of the hallways during class and
observed students
talking on cell phones and simply wondering around. I was
advised that the only twoCamden Police Officers assigned to Camden
High were monitoring the in-school
suspension class in the basement. Outside I saw students sitting
on walls on both
parking lot and Baird Blvd. side of the school.
Thursday, December 11, 2008 met with Operations Officer
Josephine Garcia.
She has contacted most of the schools concerning the backlog of
incident reports.
Cramer School is the only school refusing to reissue the reports
to the securitydepartment citing that they have already supplied
them thru their Chain of Command. In
addition, we identified each officer and their assigned
location. Any problems found
were referred to Human Resources for clarification.
Friday, December 12, 2008 I spoke at length with Human Resource
Director Ms.
Ayala and the Boards labor Attorney seeking clarification on
procedures for discipline,year ending employee evaluations, and
increasing qualifications for new hires. I also
spoke with Rafael Haciski, Policy Attorney for the Board, and
reference to Board
procedures on policy making for issues of Title Change for
officers, use of force, trainingand uniforms.
Monday, December 15, 2008 I was called to a meeting with the
Superintendent,
Deputy Superintendent and the same team headed by Asst.
Superintendent Dr. Coe-Brockington in reference to the recent
incidents of violence at Camden High. The
Superintendent criticized them for a poor deployment plan of
staff and security at
Camden High. She criticized me for the deployment of the
Operations Officers,speaking to the Attorneys on procedural
matters, requesting any transfer and speaking
with Principals. The team spoke of the same problems at Camden
High School that they
advised me on last week. No one asked for my opinion or
requested I compose aSecurity Plan for the school. The
Superintendent instructed Dr. Coe-Brockington to
meet with her team and compose a deployment plan for school
staff and security
personnel, be prepared to inform the Board of the plan at the
regular meeting onDecember 16, 2008 and implement the plan by
January 2, 2009. Keep in mind, no onehas asked for my input.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 I met with Mr. Jim Doyle from CM3.
They will beremoving three (3) existing cameras and DVR from the
warehouse and reinstalling them
in the annex at Camden High School and adding them to the Open
Eye System.
In addition, I met with Chief Scott Thompson at Camden Police
Department. I
asked for some added patrol and narcotics enforcement around
Wiggins and Fetters
Schools. I also asked for narcotics enforcement around Farnham
Park between 8:00am
9:00am Monday through Friday.
I also met with Ms. Wright concerning issues of employees with
serious health issues
and their ability to perform their duties. I needed advice on
procedures.
On Wednesday, December 17, 2008 I am meeting with Mr. Bell, Vice
Principal at
Bonsall Elementary reference to security and personnel
issues.
I will also be meeting with Mr. Steve Nicolella this week
reference to the 2009-
2010 budget.
