January/February 2013
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The Port of Baltimore
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to Port security, improved the terminal
access process and welcomed a new
workspace — all without slowing the flow.
MPA Director of Security David Espie
came to Baltimore last year directly
from the FBI, where he was a special
agent and counterintelligence expert. He
worked in both the Port of Boston and
Port of Charleston as a case agent. In
Charleston, he established the personnel
and physical security procedures of Project
Seahawk, a joint port security task force of
federal, state and local law enforcement
that became a model for interagency
cooperation.
Espie is now sharing his counter-
intelligence training with Baltimore’s
security personnel, bringing them skills
such as Improvised Explosive Device (IED)
recognition during vehicle searches.
“My goal is to create a professional and
well-trained team that is up to date on the
threats our Port faces,” said Espie.
Along with the training, overall safety
is further enhanced by physical improve-
ments to the Port’s security infrastructure.
With grant money at her disposal, MPA
Security Information Specialist Gina
Watson has worked with engineers and
IT designers to create a new workspace
for the Office of Security at the Dundalk
Marine Terminal.
Espie and Watson are joined by Melvin
Jackson and Daniel Hughes, who balance
out the MPA team with Jackson’s 35
years of maritime industry experience and
Hughes’ 16 years with the Department of
Natural Resources police force. This group
acts as a liaison to Maryland Transportation
Authority Police (which provides law
enforcement at the Port) and the frontline
Securitas guards.
“We used to be squeezed into just a
couple of offices in a dingy corner of the
building,” said Watson.
The newly renovated, second-floor space
overlooks the truck gate. Closed-circuit
TVs are monitored in a darkened room and
servers are kept cool and dry. The space
also houses a state-of-the-art emergency
operations center large enough for officials
KATHY BERGREN SMITH