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Out with the old and in with …the old?
In an effort to increase security at the still-under-renovation courthouse, Spokane County commissioners agreed Tuesday to move a screening station closer to the entrance. However, the larger question – should the checkpoint be removed from the first floor altogether? – still remains unanswered.
Tuesday’s action was an attempt for the commissioners to compromise with those who say that security at the courthouse, always a controversial subject, needs to get tighter.
“Once the first floor is compromised, the entire building is compromised,” said District Court Judge Debra Hayes, who sits on a committee charged with evaluating security at the facility. “There should be no exceptions – everyone must be screened.”
Currently, a manned security screening station is located in the middle of the bottom floor of the building. It has been there for the past few years, to allow for one station to screen those who enter from the main south-facing doors and also those on the west side of the courthouse.
The recent renovation of the structure’s spires and tower – directly above the courthouse main doors – has forced everyone to enter from the west. That means half of the bottom floor is now unsecure from anyone with a knife, gun or bomb.
Since the security is mainly to protect those in the courtrooms and future plans call for all the courts to be located on the second floor, there has been some discussion of having the security station placed there, as well. That option does not sit well with members of the security committee, who say they have the backing of the sheriff.
“You might as well throw (the security) out,” Superior Court Robert Austin, who heads the security committee, told the commissioners back in February.
“If you eliminate it from the first floor, the security of the entire courthouse is compromised.”
Security at the courthouse has been a concern since 1996 when the first screeners and metal detectors were put in place – at the west doors where the commissioners want to put them now. After a few years, then-Commissioner Phil Harris advocated them being moved to the center of the first floor to allow to access points into the building. The west doors must remain open, the commissioners said, as they are the only ones that are wheelchair-accessible.
“We need those open if not legally, at least ethically,” Commissioner Mark Richard said.
Still, security isn’t necessarily an issue for many of the other services that the courthouse provides, such as the offices of the assessor, auditor and commissioners. And though emptying pockets, removing watches and belts, and sending laptops through an X-ray machine are inconvenient, they are necessary inconveniences to protect those in the courtrooms, where criminals and raw emotions are often present.
Commissioner Bonnie Mager suggested the issue be discussed further in a more informal setting, but that suggestion was shot down by Hayes.
“With all due respect, I don’t think we should delay this – we’ve done our work,” she said.
Since the cost of adding another security station to cover the west doors would be over $10,000 a month – not to mention the capital costs of new equipment – Richard suggested simply moving the security back to the west side.
“That seems reasonable to me,” Hayes said.
Ron Oscarson, director of facilities for Spokane County, said there would be some costs involved with moving the equipment, but it would be less than $10,000. Any long-term actions regarding doing away with the screening on the bottom floor won’t be seriously discussed until funding becomes available.
And what happens to the front doors of the courthouse after the renovation work is done in October?
“I guess they’ll have to stay locked,” Mager said.
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By
Mike Huffman
