NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, March 26, 2012

INCIDENTS

Hot Springs NP

Rangers Respond To Multiple Event Incidents

The city of Hot Springs held its annual St. Patrick's Day event adjacent to the park on Saturday, March 17th, with a parade, music, vendors and entertainment. The event was highly publicized, with the band .38 Special as the headliner. Crowds were estimated by city officials at a total of about 50,000 people. Six rangers were assigned to manage all incidents that occurred inside of the park; one protection employee was assigned to represent the park at the command post that had been established under unified command with representatives from local, state, and county law enforcement agencies. Crowds were out in full force as the temperatures were in the 80s and the skies were clear. During the late afternoon parade, debris from one of the floats caused a power transformer to explode, sending sparks down onto the crowd, blowing the power grid, and knocking the 911 emergency call center offline, forcing all incoming emergency calls to be forwarded to another emergency operations center. Rangers responded to numerous incidents, including six drug violations, two warrant arrests, two public intoxication arrests, and five alcohol violations. They were also dispatched to establish a perimeter around the Grand Promenade after a suspect in a felony assault was thought to have fled into the park and asked to respond to assaults adjacent to the park. In one incident, they were asked to investigate complaints received about five men who were being disorderly in the park. The men resisted rangers and fled on foot into the downtown area. Ranger Andy Griggs was able to stay close enough to them to call in their location over the radio, though; as they attempted to run towards the extremely crowded center stage area in an apparent attempt to lose the pursuing rangers in the crowd, they therefore encountered a large contingent of local and county law enforcement officers who were anxiously awaiting their arrival. The five men were detained for the rangers, who arrived shortly thereafter and took all of them into custody. The crowd erupted in applause as the rangers drove the suspects off to jail. [John K Hughes, Chief Ranger]

Great Smoky Mountain NP

Two Searches For Missing Men Scaled Back

The park has scaled back both of the extended searches it's been conducting - one for D.L., missing since March 15th, and the other for M.C., whose abandoned car was found in the park on March 20th. Despite having up to 60 searchers involved in the effort for almost a week, search managers have not found any single clue that they can conclusively tie to either man. Without any concrete leads to pursue, search managers have concluded that it is no longer productive to continue such intensive efforts. Both operations will therefore be scaled back to limited searches. The intelligence gathering portion of the investigation will continue and rangers will be available to follow up on any leads or reports of sightings that may surface either inside the park or beyond its boundaries. The park will also continue to disseminate information about the missing men at trailheads and high-traffic areas in hopes that one of many spring break visitors who will be in the park will come upon a clue or see one of them. [Bob Miller, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Director's Office - In this episode, Director Jarvis describes how he sees the role of supervisors in the National Park Service and encourages everyone to participate in the upcoming Employee Viewpoint Survey that begins on April 9th.

Ellis Island NM - A new exhibit, entitled "Liberty Uncrated," opened earlier this month on Ellis Island. This temporary exhibit includes a wide variety of items depicting the Statue of Liberty, from paintings and photographs to souvenirs and toys.

Southeast Arizona Group - On March 19th, with much of the nation experiencing record heat, the three Southeast Arizona Group parks - Coronado, Chiricahua and Fort Bowie - were treated to a rare late season snowstorm.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings, newly introduced bills, and the status of legislation of interest to the National Park Service. This report covers activities during the week ending on March 23rd.

Fort Necessity NB - Constance “Connie” Ranson, the natural resource manager at Fort Necessity and Friendship Hill, recently passed away.

Air Resources Division - Susan Johnson has been selected as the new chief of the branch of policy, planning, and permit reviews for the Air Resources Division.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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