Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Metal detector screenings and other safety measures, while necessary at the Luzerne County Courthouse and court-related buildings, needn’t make the places feel like scary fortresses.
County workers who this summer are implementing new, tighter security procedures, and other people employed at the sites, should remain mindful that the buildings belong to the people, the vast majority of whom deserve to be treated like customers, not criminals or cattle.
Court Administrator Michael Shucosky recently outlined new protocols, which seem prudent considering the well-understood risks. These changes will take effect Aug. 3:
• Attorneys, food delivery workers and other non-employee visitors must pass through the metal detectors. Previously, some people who frequented the courthouse had carried courtesy ID cards, allowing them to skirt the examination area and avoid delays during peak times when the lines got congested.
• Searches will be conducted on all belongings, from boxes of legal paperwork to pizza cartons.
Similarly, newly placed signs at entrances to all county court-affiliated buildings remind visitors that guns are prohibited inside. And county employees are considering a range of improvements to entry gates, security cameras and other safety features.
Operational Services Division Head Tanis Manseau said: “Given all the things that have happened across the country, we’re trying to be a little more cautious, a little more proactive. We want to be very safe and never sorry.”
Shootings at government buildings, while infrequent, are an all-too-real threat. Consider, for instance, the deaths of three people during a gunman’s 2013 rampage at a Ross Township municipal meeting in the Pocono Mountains.
In their effort to keep out bad characters intent on doing harm, however, county workers must strike a fine balance. They must keep a tight lid on things, yes. But they can’t overlook the fact that sometimes the greatest threat comes from within (a known individual who becomes disgruntled or mentally unbalanced, as opposed to the stranger). And there needs to remain a non-intimidating atmosphere within our public buildings.
It’s up to county employees – through their friendly interactions with visitors, courteousness, clear instructions and other everyday actions – to keep the courthouse feeling approachable.