The 14 members of the Cook County Security Committee are mulling over an initial report on courthouse security submitted by consultant Steven Swensen, director of the St. Paul-based Center for Judicial and Executive Security. Swensen was hired to assess security needs at the courthouse after the courthouse shooting last December. His assessment included a tour of the building, interviews, observation of court activity, and a nighttime inspection.
Over the last few months, numerous security improvements have been in progress. The door to a conference room used by defense attorneys meeting with their clients has been moved to the secure hallway just outside the courtroom. Security cameras have been installed. The County Attorney’s Office suite will have a security door leading into it. Wendy Hansen’s guardian ad litem office, currently in the County Attorney’s Office suite, will move to the Court Administration office, leaving a secure meeting room for County Attorney’s Office personnel.
Employees in each department are being trained in lockdown procedures. Public Health & Human Services Department personnel will be doing more calendar-sharing to keep better track of staff when they are out in the field.
Numerous types of security equipment have been investigated, including “panic buttons” and emergency notification systems that can issue emergency messages through landlines and cell phones.
The Sheriff ’s Office received $5,000 in drug forfeiture money and will use it to purchase ballistic shields. They will be placed in squad cars for use in shooting incidents.
Steven Swensen will finalize his report after receiving comments and questions from the committee and then make recommendations to the county board. According to Personnel Director/Board Secretary Janet Simonen, Swenson’s meeting with the board might be a closed meeting, since provisions in the Open Meeting Law (Minnesota Statute 13D.05) allow closed meetings for discussion of security issues. It states, “Meetings may be closed to receive security briefings and reports, to discuss issues related to security systems, to discuss emergency response procedures and to discuss security deficiencies in or recommendations regarding public services, infrastructure and facilities, if disclosure of the information discussed would pose a danger to public safety or compromise security procedures or responses.”
At a later date, the Security Committee will consider whether to negotiate a price for Swensen to conduct assessments on other county-owned buildings. Over $66,000 has been spent or set aside this year for county security improvements.
Representatives of the A&E TV network contacted Sheriff Mark Falk expressing interest in doing a segment on the shooting for a new series that will feature 9-1-1 dispatchers and emergency response situations. Falk told the Security Committee that he declined the proposal because he did not think it would be in the best interest of the county or the community.
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