GOVERNOR'S MANSION
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, June 20, 2008

By EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
eramshaw@dallasnews.com
AUSTIN – An undertrained state trooper, faulty surveillance equipment and security procedures tripped up by renovations contributed to this month's destructive arson at the Texas Governor's Mansion, a Department of Public Safety investigator said Thursday.

HARRY CABLUCK/The Associated Press
Workers removed debris Monday from the Texas Governor's Mansion, which was heavily damaged by arson June 8. Seven of 20 security cameras were broken and motion detectors weren't engaged the night of the crime, a review found. Sgt. Michael Escalante, a former member of the governor's security detail, told the Texas Public Safety Commission that damage from the June 8 blaze might have been avoided if there had been more or better-prepared troopers on duty at the mansion and if security equipment had not malfunctioned.

As it was, Sgt. Escalante said, a single, undertrained trooper who had already worked an eight-hour shift at an Austin history museum was on duty when an arsonist set the predawn fire that nearly gutted the 152-year-old building.

Seven of 20 security cameras were broken. And motion detectors weren't engaged, because officers were under the false impression that they didn't work while the mansion was undergoing repairs.

"With the cameras improperly working, with the [motion detector] beams inactivated, there should've been additional personnel on the ground, a second set of eyes," said Sgt. Escalante, who conducted the review at the public safety commission's request. "It was a combination of things."

Unpredictable
Security at the mansion had been unpredictable since Gov. Rick Perry and first lady Anita Perry moved out in October, the month extensive renovations began, Sgt. Escalante said.

"Governor Perry has said for the past couple of weeks that the hard questions are going to be asked and that Texans deserve answers," said Krista Piferrer, a spokeswoman for the governor. "We're not surprised. We're just happy to have some answers."
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