Posted on 03/17/2015 11:18:16 PM PDT by csvset
NORFOLK
The failures of a civilian police officer at the gate of Norfolk Naval Station allowed an intruder to enter the base without authorization last March and fatally shoot a sailor aboard the destroyer Mahan as it sat pierside, a Navy investigation has found.
The guard failed to ask the intruder for identification or his intent, did not immediately pursue him when he realized the driver was not making a U-turn, and did not sound an alarm to warn others on base, demonstrating a complete lapse of proper security procedure, said the Navy report, released Tuesday evening.
Those errors were key factors in the deadly shooting of Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Mayo, the investigation found.
But the report also cites deeper systemic problems with security on the world's largest naval base, including a lack of senior supervisors, manpower shortages, poor integration between the base and ship security, and broken equipment, including cameras, turnstiles and duress buttons.
The report, released one week shy of a year since the March 24, 2014, attack, makes a series of recommendations for correcting the problems. The Navy said it has implemented many of them and is continuing to put others in place.
"The investigation identified several deficiencies in the Naval Station security program that left it vulnerable to this unacceptable security breach," Adm. Bill Gortney, who recently completed his term as Fleet Forces commander, wrote in his endorsement. "This tragic event demonstrates that we must dedicate even more effort, manpower and resources to strengthening our installation security."
The incident began when Jeffrey Tyrone Savage, the civilian driver, pulled up to the gate at 11:30 p.m. in his tractor-trailer cab, according to the documents. The guard, failing to ask for identification, apparently thought Savage was making a U-turn.
But after Savage continued onto the base, the report said, the guard failed to "deploy the hardened anti-access control system, failed to pursue Mr. Savage in a timely manner, failed to notify Naval Station Norfolk Security department dispatch and failed to execute any standard operating procedures required in response to an unauthorized individual on Naval Station Norfolk."
Savage drove to Pier 1 and parked, then walked through the entry control point while a sentry opened the adjacent gate for Mayo, the guard in charge of the piers. The sentry saw Savage and called for him to stop, but Savage ignored her instructions, the report said.
He appeared to be talking into a cellphone headset and seemed intoxicated or otherwise impaired, it said. Since the hospital ship Comfort was docked at the same pier, the appearance of civilians there was not unusual, the investigation found.
Without a warning from the front gate, the sentry and watchstanders on the Mahan were not overly alarmed. They radioed the Naval Station Waterfront Security Operations center that an individual on the pier was not responding to calls for identification.
Mayo and another guard drove toward the brows of the Mahan and Comfort as Savage started walking up the Mahan's. They followed him on foot, shouting to him to stop. Savage made no threatening moves but ignored their calls.
Three watch officers on the Mahan also called for Savage to stop, two of them pulling out their weapons. Savage lunged, grabbing the petty officer of the watch's weapon and starting to point it in her direction.
Mayo dove between them, pushing the petty officer out of harm's way as Savage began firing. Mayo was fatally shot before the guard with him and the other armed sailor aboard the Mahan shot and killed Savage.
The investigator concluded that the sailors on board had acted appropriately by pulling their weapons, though it might not have been the best option.
The investigator laid out a long list of recommendations involving base protection and coordination between base and ship security.
In the wake of the shooting, the base and the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic have taken a long list of corrective actions, the Navy said in a statement. Many were recommended by the investigation.
All sentries at Gate 5 on the night of the incident were removed from their law enforcement duties and were not authorized to carry a weapon. Since then, all but the officer who waved Savage through have resumed their duties after refresher training.
On ships, the naval station has increased the number of armed personnel on quarterdeck watch teams, added nonlethal capabilities to those teams and installed physical barriers on brows.
In addition, the naval station filled positions that were unmanned, in part because of budgetary cutbacks, and increased hirings to account for attrition.
It increased training, standardized job qualifications for Navy police and ensured ongoing training in the use of lonlethal weapons such as batons or pepper spray, which the petty officer of the watch chose not to use because she felt she'd be overwhelmed by Savaage.
The Navy has increased the number of watch standers at entry control points.
And in another key action recommended in the report, the naval station corrected what the report described as a sense of entitlement by the senior personnel on base who did not stand watch late at night or on weekends, leaving the base manned by junior personnel at those hours.
The base is also repairing the degraded cameras, turnstiles access control gates and duress buttons, the Navy said.
Dianna Cahn, 757-222-5846, dianna.cahn@pilotonline.com
Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Mayo, 24, was killed at Norfolk Naval Station on Monday, March 24, 2014. (U.S. Navy)
Ah yes, the infamous civil service slug base police. A "jobs" program if there ever was one. No work required,(if lucky), just show up do your shift and get paid.
We'd often find base cops sleeping. One cop used to go fishing while on duty, I kid you not.
Base police have always been a joke, now that this sailor has been killed, who is laughing?
Any more info on the initial guard that let the perp through? Name? Description? Anything?
Nada. So little info about the killer too.
45 years ago not so much but deadly force comes to mind in today’s world with one gun at the ready at every gate but that would raise to many eyebrows.
Who owns Navy Region Mid-Atlantic? Somebody has to be in charge - and should be held responsible. Seems to me there is an annual (maybe semi-annual) exercise addressing this issue, one such exercise having TOTALLY GRIDLOCKED Hampton Roads a few years ago. Apparently, the annual $$ for this exercise has been wasted. One brave Sailor gave his life due to his leadership’s failure.
Commanding Officers of ships have been $h!tcanned for one hell of a lot less. Just sayin’ - a senior head should have rolled.
1.”The failures of a civilian police officer at the gate of Norfolk Naval Station … “
2.”Three watch officers on the Mahan also called for Savage to stop, two of them pulling out their weapons. Savage lunged, grabbing the petty officer of the watch’s weapon and starting to point it in her direction.”
I worked for a defense contractor at various military bases many years ago. All of the gate security personnel were 6’-4” male MPs with a 45 cal. sidearm. The rent-a-cops at today's installations are a joke.
When my ship was homeported at NOB NORVA the Marines covered the gates and the base police were mainly enforcing parking restrictions.
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