Metal Detectors

AS A NOONTIME aide at John Reynolds Elementary School in North Philadelphia, Carol Porter is used to quieting rowdy kids or breaking up horseplay. But when a 7-year-old student told her he had a gun in his backpack, it was a first. "I felt bad about it," said Porter, a short, gray-haired woman who has three grandchildren who attend the school. "I was happy that the child came to let me know. " Police came to the school and recovered the loaded .357 Magnum. "Anything could've happened.

Philadelphia school officials have not exactly uncovered an arsenal since hand-held metal detectors were made available last month. In the first 45 days they were in use, mostly at high schools, the 150 metal detectors turned up "several" knives, said Alfred W. Dean, director of security operations. Although guns have continued to be discovered on school grounds, none of them was found through use of the metal detectors, Dean said. There have been about 45 weapons offenses involving guns so far this school year, he said.

Visitors to the Bucks County Courthouse will have to enter through metal detectors because of tighter security beginning Monday. The two metal detectors, along with two X-ray machines, are on the second floor at the Court Street entrance, which will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The first-floor Main Street entrance, which is closest to the county parking garage, will be open only from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., said Richard Manna, chairman of the county's security committee.

The doorbell rings. You are confronted by two earnest young men who introduce themselves as Andrew and Dan. You'll never guess what they want. They're not selling magazine subscriptions or handing out free copies of the Watch Tower. They don't want to cut the grass. All they're asking is permission to search your lawn for buried treasure. Whenever they have some extra time, Andrew Goldfrank and Daniel Marshall, both 23, go trudging through West Philly, Germantown or Roxborough, banging on doors, introducing themseleves, explaining their hobby, and pledging not to damage anything.

The school board yesterday decided to find out the cost of installing metal detectors in middle and high schools after meeting with a group of principals, who expressed concerns about safety in the city's public schools. A recommendation will be considered at Monday's regular board meeting, officials said yesterday. "We're at the point where we need to explore metal detectors," said Camden School Superintendent Roy J. Dawson, following the special meeting attended by six board members and seven middle and high school principals.

Yesterday, Philadelphia's public schools entered the high-tech security era with the introduction of handheld metal detectors to keep weapons out of school. The foot-long, wand-like detectors should help maintain the schools as the havens of safety they're supposed to be. Concerns have been raised about the searches being a violation of students' rights, but in this case the interest of the school community in safety is far and away the dominant concern. Moreover, a search with a metal detector is both less intrusive and less of a burden on teachers and staff than the alternatives: frisking or locker searches.

The Chester-Upland School District is considering installing metal detectors at Chester High School, where some parents have been keeping students out of school because of alleged weapons incidents there. The parents, who were to meet today with the Chester schools superintendent and school board president, said last night that at least two school officials told them there had been weapons in the high school. One parent blamed the drug culture and Chester's depressed economy for the problem and said students from the nearby William Penn housing project, a known drug haven, apparently were causing some of the trouble.

Thanks in part to mandatory metal detectors in high schools, Philadelphia's public schools are safer than they were last year, at least in the month of April. Violent incidents reported in April 2001 were down nearly 22 percent compared to April 2000, said Phil Goldsmith, interim chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia, at yesterday's school board meeting. Overall, violent incidents increased by 2 percent in the last year, a figure that Goldsmith described as "relatively stable.

When a woman pulled a pistol from her handbag last month and opened fire in a crowded courtroom, wounding two people, it left a lot of people wondering about security in City Hall, including City Councilwoman Joan Specter. Yesterday, Specter raised more questions when she disclosed that the sheriff's office had 10 new metal detectors collecting dust in a dank and dark City Hall basement at the time of the shooting. "That could've been avoided had we had these metal detectors in place at the entrances of City Hall," Specter said, holding on to one of the detectors during a news conference yesterday morning.

METAL DETECTORS in elementary schools? Hell, yeah. Think that's a knee-jerk reaction? Well, not any more than the hand-wringing over the - gasp - sorry state of our society if we'd - shudder - stoop to such a thing. The reaction to Philadelphia school officials merely discussing the idea was typical: What message would it send? What proof is there that they work? There has to be another way. Safety doesn't come from metal detectors. It comes from community, good parenting . . . the Easter Bunny.

AS A NOONTIME aide at John Reynolds Elementary School in North Philadelphia, Carol Porter is used to quieting rowdy kids or breaking up horseplay. But when a 7-year-old student told her he had a gun in his backpack, it was a first. "I felt bad about it," said Porter, a short, gray-haired woman who has three grandchildren who attend the school. "I was happy that the child came to let me know. " Police came to the school and recovered the loaded .357 Magnum. "Anything could've happened.

A 17-YEAR-OLD BOY is expected to face charges after he was caught trying to bring a loaded gun into a Catholic school for troubled youth in Center City, police said. Authorities said the weapon was discovered Monday morning during a routine screening at De La Salle in Towne, a high school for adjudicated youth on Van Pelt Street near Chestnut. The student set off the metal detectors, and when authorities searched him, they found a .22-caliber handgun in his pocket, officials said.

NEW YORK - With age come such things as catheters, colostomy bags and adult diapers. Now add another indignity to getting old - having to drop your pants and show those things to a complete stranger. Two women in their 80s put the Transportation Security Administration on the defensive this week by going public about their embarrassment during screenings in a private room at Kennedy Airport. One said she had to lower her pants and underwear in front of an agent so her back brace could be inspected.

The two handguns, bullets, Taser, and knife were on display at Tuesday's news conference after the nonviolent confiscation of the weapons at Upper Darby High School the day before. They were a chilling reminder that the outcome could have been worse. The system worked the way it should have, said both Michael J. Chitwood, superintendent of police, and Louis F. DeVlieger, superintendent of schools. On Monday, two 15-year-old sophomores were arrested after one allegedly sold a gun to the other for $100 and the Taser.

Two 15-year-old Upper Darby High School sophomores were arrested Monday after one allegedly sold a gun to the other for $100 and a Taser while the two were in homeroom. A third student, who later saw the Taser, reported the incident to a teacher who alerted school officials, said Michael J. Chitwood, township superintendent of police. Police were called to the school around 12:30 p.m. by security officers, who had the student with the Taser in custody. During a search, a loaded gun was discovered along with a knife, marijuana, and bullets for the second gun. The student who bought the gun was confronted and a second weapon found, Chitwood said.

Houston schools record far fewer assault and weapon cases than Philadelphia, but they arrest and issue citations to students more often, district statistics show. Houston police recorded 3,816 arrests and citations last school year, or 188 for every 10,000 students. Serious offenses such as aggravated assault always result in arrests. Citations are issued for lower-level offenses such as disorderly conduct or disruption of school. The citation numbers also include written warnings, said Jimmy Dotson, chief of Houston school police.

AS I sifted through my Facebook account, I couldn't help but notice the outpouring of updates on the controversy that ultimately led to School Superintendent Ackerman's highly publicized buyout. Several of my public-school colleagues appeared to be thrilled about Ackerman's departure. There was an overall sense of enthusiasm regarding the possibility of a fresh start in the district. But many were angered by the $905,000 payoff that it took to solidify "The Queen's" grand exit.

During his nine days of lies about his boudoir photography hobby, Rep. Anthony Weiner complained that the issue was a "distraction" from more important matters, such as the debt-limit showdown. I disagree, and not because I find great substance in Weiner's genitalia. The naked truth is that his Twitter problem has more to do with the perilous state of the nation's finances than you might think. Scandals have been multiplying like rabbits lately - leading to a surreal moment Monday night, when former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D., Mayflower Hotel)