Inside the Smithsonian

Another staff member assigned to SSD was my consigliore, Mr. John Vito.  John, older than I, was a former New York City police officer and retired with the rank of sergeant. His last assignment was at the “44”, the infamous Fort Apache. Born in Manhattan, he was a typical New Yorker. He served his country on Governor’s Island as a member of the United States Coast Guard during World War II.  In that fast New York delivery, “ It was tough Jimmy, it was tough, but somebody had to do it.” A connoisseur of food, especially Italian food; intelligent, well educated, and street smart. It didn’t take me long to pick out which Museum Security Specialist I was going to hook up with.

I suspect this is an appropriate time to comment on the job title, “Museum Security Specialist.”

I think the positions were intended to fill a need for security surveys of the facilities, the buildings, and the museums, that comprises the Smithsonian Institution. If  that was the intention of management, I can only say that during the eleven years I was with the Institution, I don’t think I conducted more than three or four security surveys. With some six thousand employees, the security surveys gave way to investigations of misconduct on the part of employees; thefts, and other criminal matters perpetrated by, and on, employees. It was challenging most of the time, and a pleasant way for a former cop to “ply his trade” in a second career.

In the early days of my appointment I remember trying to scope things out. I approached John Vito on just what it was we did to earn our pay. The next thing I know John is relating how he caught a case a couple of months prior to my arrival. There is a Smithsonian facility located at 8th and G Sts. NW, the American Art and Portrait Gallery (AA/PG).  On a particular Monday morning John reported to work and was advised that a theft had occurred over the weekend. John responded to AA/PG and found that sometime during the previous Friday, maintenance workers had taken down two large bronze doors. The doors, scheduled for refurbishing, weighed about five thousand pounds  each.  They were delivered to the loading dock for storage over the weekend. For the record, the loading dock was staffed with security personnel 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

John, well aware of the fact that any removal of such “weighty” items would take some kind of crane or other heavy equipment, started to conduct interviews, review sign in/out sheets, and check alarm activation reports. Results were nada, nothing. Nobody knew anything. To the best of my knowledge the two bronze doors are history.  They went south, right under the noses of, or with the help of, security personnel. It was at this point that I started to have doubts about my new job.

I soon learned that another investigator, who would be assigned to SSD at a later date, was Bobby Masters. Prior to being actually transferred to our office, Bobby was detailed to the National Air and Space Museum.  A former Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Officer assigned to a tactical squad in a northeast precinct, Bobby was about as tenacious an individual I ever met. He had a very specific impression of what constituted criminal activity. He did not countenance people involved in such activity well. This included employees in general, and security personnel, in particular. Bob was and still is a man that gives the appearance of “all business,” not the type you cuddle up to. This approach offended some people, especially members of the guard force.

One visit to the Hirshhorn Museum by Masters and his partner generated the following:

“His Gestapo mentality, and perspective, was unnecessary, insulting, frightening, and unprofessional. Not to mention time consuming, and a danger to my health and safety. His conduct was dictatorial, his verbal tone was menacing and derogatory. Mr. Masters, not only caused disorder in the mission of the Hirshhorn security unit on a day where there was a serious personal, (sic) but inflicted emotional distress on me. I was so overwhelmed by the abuse of his authority, and total lack of human civility I had to seek the care of my doctor. I am currently and have been under doctor’s care quite sometime. Mr. Masters made threats in a menacing manner. No person should be subjected to the fierceness of Mr. Bobby Masters. In closing it is my wish that the Smithsonian Institution will direct Mr. Masters to pursue a course in human relations.”