News Media Home | Hopkins Medicine Home
February 8, 1994
Media Contact:Debbie Bangledorf
Phone: (410) 223-1731
E-mail:
Dbangle@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu
Joseph R. Coppola, a veteran of more than 24 years with the U.S. Secret Service, including eight
years as special agent in charge at its Baltimore Field Office, has been named to the newly created
position of chief of corporate security services at The Johns Hopkins Medical lnstitutions. He
begins his duties on February 22.
Coppola will oversee all aspects of security on the 44-acre East Baltimore campus, which
includes The Johns Hopkins Hospital, The Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine, Nursing
and Public Health, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
currently budget approximately $10 million a year for security.
Coppola joined the Secret Service in 1969 and subsequently served in field operations in New
York, Boston and Chicago. From 1982 to 1984, he was special agent in charge in the counterfeit
division at Secret Service Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Coppola, a resident of Millersville in Anne Arundel County, was deputy special agent in charge
of the technical security division at the White House from 1984 to 1985, directing an extensive
scientific and technical aids security program with security countermeasures, antiterrorism and
physical security. During this period, he planned and managed security for the president, vice
president and foreign heads of state. Coppola also coordinated all technical security for the 1984
Republican National Convention in Dallas and the subsequent presidential inauguration.
He served as special agent in charge at the Baltimore Field Office from 1985 to 1992 and
returned to that position in 1993, after a tour of duty in Washington, D.C., where he served as
deputy assistant director for the office of inspection. A part of his duties in Baltimore has been
to direct protective and intelligence-related operations for visits by the president and other
dignitaries to Maryland, including the presidential retreat at Camp David, at Thurmont.
During this period, Coppola also worked closely with the Baltimore Police
Department and all other federal, state and local enforcement agencies in Maryland on crime task
forces and investigations. His office deals with other authorities on a regular basis in assessing,
evaluating and combating crime and violence in Maryland. In addition, he has been an active
participant on the Governor's Advisory Council dealing with justice and public safety
issues in Maryland and has been involved specifically with a state-level committee dealing with
crime and violence,
James A. Block, M.D., president and chief executive officer of the Johns Hopkins
Health System and Hopkins Hospital and Michael E. Johns, M.D., dean of the medical faculty
and vice president for medicine of The Johns Hopkins University, said in a joint statement: 'We
are extremely pleased that our extensive and lengthy search for a corporate security chief has ended
with the appointment of Joseph Coppola, who possesses a superb background in security
operations and, because of his current position with the Secret Service, is familiar with the region.
We are convinced he will contribute in many ways to Hopkins' on-going commitment to
maintaining safety and security on our campus."
"I am eager to begin my duties with Hopkins," Coppola responded in accepting the
security position. "There is no single solution to the crime and violence its tragic toll in our society
today," he continued, 'but I will exert my utmost effort in administering every degree of prevention
when it
comes to safeguarding people and property on Hopkins' East Baltimore campus."
The medical campus has been likened to a small city. More than 11,000
faculty, students, staff and support personnel study or work in its 41 buildings . Last year,
the Medical Institutions provided
nearly 300,000 days of inpatient care and logged more than 485,000 outpatient visits.
Block and Johns spearheaded an initiative for a stronger security force and safer
environment on the campus. This was accomplished on two fronts, the first of which was the
creation of an ad hoc panel to hear the recommendations of faculty and staff on ensuring internal
security. The second dealt with
crime and grass-roots community action supported by neighborhood groups, the Baltimore City
Police, and Johns Hopkins.
Creation of an overall security chief was among the recommendations forwarded to
the hospital and University administrations by the Ad Hoc Committee on Security headed by John
D. Stobo, M.D., professor and director of the Department of Medicine and senior associate dean
for clinical science.
"An ongoing evaluation of security showed that a senior-level security chief of the
whole campus would serve us best," Stobo said in expressing his enthusiasm for Coppola's
appointment. "At the same time, we are grateful to William McLean, director of security for the
medical campus, for the job."