 |
November 2008 |
 |
|
|
|
|
By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
A former Wapakoneta law enforcement officer’s future is now in the hands of seven state Supreme Court justices.
Former Wapakoneta Police Chief Dave Harrison’s 6-year-old sex crime case reached the pinnacle in Ohio’s court system Wednesday, as justices heard arguments from Harrison’s attorney Dean Boland and state prosecutor Scott Longo.
Each party had 15 minutes to present their case to the justices. After both attorneys argued their cases, a single word in Harrison’s sentencing entry and a grilling delivered to Longo by justice Maureen O’Connor left Boland optimistic about his client’s future.
In June, 2003, Harrison plead guilty to a six-count bill of information after child pornography was found on his computer. After entering his plea, the man who served as police chief from 1988 to 2002 was sentenced to one year in jail.
Seven months after he completed his sentence, it was discovered by county prosecutors that Harrison should have been sentenced with an additional five years of mandatory post release control, or probation.
During a court hearing, Harrison was given the option to either be re-sentenced or withdraw his plea. Harrison chose the latter, taking things back to square one.
With the plea withdrawn, the state of Ohio slapped Harrison with a 23-count indictment which he was ultimately found guilty of and sentenced to six years in prison.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
Friday, 10 October 2008 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
Ohio and Auglaize County agencies and departments should be better able to better respond today to a bioterror attack or pandemic than prior to 9-11, two local government officials say.
“I think we are far better prepared today than on Sept. 12, 2001,” Auglaize County Health Commissioner Charlotte Parsons said this week in a telephone interview. “Our plans are much more detailed, much more realistic and much broader in scope.”
A multi-agency study, “Public Health Emergency Preparedness: Six Years of Achievement,” shows all 50 states and 82 percent of the nation’s counties now have prepared plans in place to protect its residents’ health if a terrorist strikes with biological weapons or pandemic ensues.
The plan includes coordination of efforts with the county’s Office of Homeland Security and the Emergency Management Agency as well as law enforcement and safety services throughout the county. The plan also includes working with area hospitals.
The study reports 11 percent of the states had plans to deal with a major health threat in 2002, while today all 50 states have plans in place. The study reports 20 percent of local health agencies had plans in place in 2002, while 82 percent had plans in 2007.
Auglaize County Emergency Management Agency Director Troy Anderson, who also coordinates Homeland Security activities in the county, agreed with Parsons that the county is more prepared now than inn 2001 because of the grants the county applied for and received.
“Working to obtain more grant money for emergency preparedness is one of the goals I have been striving for as the EMA director and grant coordinator for Homeland Security grants,” Anderson said. “I’ve looked at our vulnerabilities from existing plans back then and every year as we updated our plan, and I always ask myself ‘where are we at now and where do we want to go in the future.’ ”
To help coordinate plans and to take a proactive step in coping with an expanded scope of threats, the Centers for Disease Control allocated approximately $4.9 billion in funding between 2002 and 2007 for a cooperative public health emergency response.
Anderson said he used the grant money to purchase items to improve the county’s response and preparedness as well as pay for exercises to test the equipment and the plans.
“I think we are staying right on top or close to the top of where we need to be,” Anderson said. “There is always room for improvement.”
He plans to use a recent grant award to update the county’s dispatch centers and radios.
According to the study, state, local and federal entities as well as partners in the health care and first-responder industry have built “more effective, more integrated communications and information systems, and the public health community has increased its capacity and capability to detect diseaases more rapidly, and in turn, strengthen its response to health emergencies.”
The study also concluded that health agencies “have enhanced their ability to meet the expected challenges of mobilizing quickly to provide preventive medications and vaccines during a large-scale infectious disease disaster, with detailed planning and exercising of plans for the mass distribution of medicines.”
Parsons and Anderson agreed the county’s preparedness to respond to bioterror threats as well as a health epidemic, such as a flu pandemic or small pox outbreak, is strong but always could be improved.
Anderson said he believes learning terms of each department and agency has improved communication.
County agencies and departments and area officials are much better prepared if an incident occurred than they were six years ago, Parsons said, and it should be harder for health officials and other government officials should to be caught off guard in the future.
“We are in a continuous process to update our plans, and we are working on updating the plan all the time,” Parsons said. “We divided the plan into sections, and certain sections are reviewed and upgraded and refined all the time.
“I don’t think we will ever say this is finished,” she said. “There is always more planning and coordination that can be done.”
The health commissioner also said plans are “closely coordinated” with the county Department of Homeland Security and EMA as well as within a regional district consisting of 18 counties in northwest Ohio.
Parsons also advised residents and businesses in the county to develop plans in the case of a pandemic.
“People need to learn what they should do if a pandemic hits and how to prepare themselves and their households as well as how they would manage if they would have to stay home for weeks at a time,” Parsons said. “Businesses need to think through and develop a plan if a pandemic hits and one-third of their employees were out sick — they need to develop plans so they can continue to function.
“A terrorist attack or a pandemic requires an increase amount of planning ahead,” she said. “Business owners need to start thinking things through seriously regarding how they would cope.”
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 13 October 2008 )
|
|
|
|
