Supervisors are taking the first steps to harden security at the County Office Building at a cost of a buck and a quarter--$125,000.
Once that work is done, they’ll take another look at the Annex and Office of Emergency Services.
Central to the security upgrades will be a $4,700 walk-through scanner plus installation, Undersheriff Bruce Baker said Friday.
Undersheriff Baker said he’s also discovered that Civil Service will allow the Sheriff’s Office to hire retired law enforcement officers in civilian roles to man the scanner—and the front door.
They’ll need six part-timers, he said, two shifts of two to work in the lobby, and a third to walk the building and handle complaints.
If anyone entering the County Office Building needs to go anywhere other than the first floor, he said, they’ll need to be cleared with a phone call “and they’ll come get you.”
There will also be additional cameras.
All together, Undersheriff Baker said, the upgrades will create a single point of access to the County Office Building; all other doors will be used for emergency exit only–even for County Court.
There will also be additional cameras.
“I think it’s a way to harden things without being overly aggressive,” he said.
Social Services Commissioner Donna Becker asked whether staff will need to go through the scanner–the answer is yes–and what will happen when hers need to be there after-hours, for example, for 2am DSS calls.
“That’s one of those fluid things,” Undersheriff Baker said.
There were also concerns over the potential backup of jurors in the case of a big trial.
“I don’t know what the answer to that is,” he said. “One hundred people in the lobby isn’t good either. We’re creating a choke point. It’s not going to be easy.”
Supervisors chair Bill Federice created a Buildings Security Committee, chaired by Jefferson Supervisor Peggy Hait, last February,
In October and again in November, Ms. Hait reported back, suggesting secure doors, keypad entries, a metal detector, and luggage x-ray machine for both the County Office Building and the Annex; new doors and a keypad and new doors at the Office of Emergency Services; and a new key entry at DPW at a total cost of $1.2 million, including staffing.