From: "J A Kmps" kmpsproductions@hotmail.com ...With the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. our CAO is considering installing a metal detector during high profile andsignificantly religious exhibits...
On the surface this sounds like a "good thing" because it gives the appearance of action and "doing something" that is highly visible. However, there may be unintended consequences for use by cultural institutions. It depends on your organization's motivation and intended outcomes. Whether or not that level of screening makes sense, operationally or fiscally, depends on the threats that your organization faces and the circumstances involved. Is the concern an individual threat against a specific person, more generalized about expression/protest or mass destruction? The threat assessment and risk analysis should drive the degree of protection selected. The use of metal detectors really needs to be considered in the context of an overall security plan and process. There are simply many objects that can make it through magnetometers that can be used or misused for destructive purposes. Here's some food for thought....'terrorist" types don't typically go through security. They bypass it. What is the intent of installing the metal detectors, to deny entrance to those in possession of *illegal* weapons? How about legal weapons? Objects that may be used as weapons? Will you involve public law enforcement? If so, will you prosecute "offenders", or just ask them to leave, or deny admittance? Do you have the force of law to do that? Once the equipment is placed in service, your organization has raised the bar on "business invitee" expectations for a safe and secure environment. That means your organization must follow through with appropriate staff or contractor selection, orientation, training, and performance. Otherwise, your organization will be at risk for negligent security. In some jurisdictions, government entities may have full or partial tort immunity. P rivate institutions typically do not have tort immunity. Sometimes metal detectors provide the illusion of security. Patrons and staff see the highly visible effort and have the perception of safety. Until something happens that is beyond the capability of the staff & equipment doing the screening. Which could have been prevented by other methods, such as appropriate cultural, behavioral, environmental, or physical means. Just some points to consider. Screening is just one link in the chain. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Ken Vail
Kenneth T. Vail, CSP, ARM, ALCM Risk Management Consultant 610.509.6832 - cell 610.974.9730 - voicemail & fax Kenmtb1@email.msn.com
Nazi Loot To Be Returned to Poland
MIAMI (AP) - A 500-year-old painting stolen by the Nazis from Poland's National Museum during World War II has been part of the collection at Vizcaya Museum since 1980 and will be returned. ``The Holy Trinity, Seat of Mercy,'' is a small oil on wood painting by Nuremberg- born Georg Pencz. ``There's no doubt on this,'' Richard Farwell, Vizcaya's director said Thursday of the final identification. ``There's a repaired crack through the middle of it, and in a picture from (the Warsaw museum's) catalog, you can very clearly see the crack.'' He said the painting will be returned to Poland, but the process in the county bureaucracy could take months. The painting is one of 35 works donated to Miami-Dade County in 1980 by Claire Mendel, the German consul in Miami from 1958 to 1970. He died in Miami in 1987. How Mendel came to possess the painting isn't clear, and there's no evidence to suggest he knew it was stolen, The Miami Herald reported Friday. Holy Trinity depicts Jesus in the arms of God as the Holy Spirit, in the form of a white dove, hovers overhead. Pencz was a pupil of Albrecht Durer, regarded as the greatest German artists of the Renaissance. There are multiple versions of the painting, each slightly different, but the one at Vizcaya apparently had been at the National Museum in Warsaw as early as 1880. Last spring, Farwell got his first inquiry from Warsaw after a photo of Holy Trinity was published in a German book. Over the summer, a curator arrived from Poland, and ``we put the piece under infrared lights,'' Farwell said. ``There's no doubt it's theirs.'' An exhibition catalog from the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum in 1967 says the painting came from ``a private collection in Munich.'' Mendel, an art collector who made frequent trips to Europe for purchases, donated 35 works to Miami-Dade County in 1980. George Campbell, an artist and antiques dealer, appraised Mendel's collection for the county. In 1978, Campbell put its value at $47,500. It was displayed at Vizcaya until 1992, just before Hurricane Andrew hit. Since then, the collection has been in storage. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/
Smithsonian Attendance Plummeted Since Attacks
Tourism Decline as High As 75 Percent on Mall
By Jacqueline Trescott Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, September 28, 2001; Page C01
The decline in tourist traffic since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has turned the Smithsonian Institution into a village of quiet, almost empty halls. Some days Smithsonian-wide attendance has dropped almost three-quarters from the same day last year. For example, last Sunday only 22,000 people visited the Smithsonian's museums on the Mall, compared with 75,000 on the same Sunday a year ago. full story
Art Returned, as Authorities Charge Former Museum Volunteer
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) -- The items allegedly stolen from the Fitchburg Historical Society Museum by a volunteer have all been located and will soon be returned, the museum's executive director and authorities said Thursday. The announcement came as federal authorities announced formal charges of interstate transportation of stolen property against Malcolm J. Donahoo, 53, a former news editor at Fitchburg's Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper. "The board of directors is pleased and we are very glad and really grateful to the FBI, which has done a fabulous job in tracking down this whole case, finding the persons who inadvertently purchased the things he sold to them, and to the local police," said museum executive director Betsy Hannula. She said the stolen items have been located and were in the process of being returned to the museum. She said she had little information about where officials had tracked them down.
She said the news wasn't all good, however. Two Civil War swords, one of which was valued at $250,000, have apparently been under water for the last year and have been damaged. Federal prosecutors charge Donahoo stole and later sold in New Hampshire for $16,150 various documents, including items signed by Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock, Daniel Webster and Benjamin Franklin. Donahoo volunteered at the museum from between April and July, 2000. The information also says other stolen items not covered in the charges were also returned. Hannula said she could not estimate the total value of the stolen goods.
Donahoo surrendered to authorities in June when he first faced preliminary charges in connection with the incident. If convicted, Donahoo could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Donahoo's attorney, John Bosk, did not immediately return a phone message left as his office Thursday.
Samantha Martin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said no court date has been set. http://www.wbz.com/