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Security was stepped up Monday due to a fire that may have been intentionally set at Luzerne County’s human services building, said county Manager C. David Pedri.

“In light of this incident, we have increased security for all Luzerne County facilities,” he said.

He declined to discuss details of enhanced measures or the incident at the human services building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre, but security guards were checking all courthouse visitors Monday.

Speaking generally, Pedri said the potential for an attack always looms because the county handles Children and Youth proceedings that sometimes alter or terminate parental custody and tax sales and mortgage foreclosure auctions that result in residents losing their properties.

County officials have pointed to the case of Rockne Newell, who was sentenced to life in prison for shooting three people to death and severely injuring another at a Ross Township municipal meeting in the Poconos in 2013 after a lengthy dispute over junk and other code violations that led to his property’s condemnation.

“When you’re dealing with someone’s property or family, it’s emotionally charged, and with that there’s always a concern for security,” Pedri said.

County Court Administrator Michael Shucosky offered a similar view, saying he and other court officials have been working closely with county Sheriff Brian Szumski to ensure security needs are met for all employees and visitors to county buildings.

“We are very concerned about security because we often deal with the most volatile of individuals regarding custody of children, divorces, money that must be paid for child and spousal support and estate matters,” Shucosky said. “These are very personal issues, where sometimes the feelings are very raw.”

Emotions also often “run high” in criminal court, with opposing camps and some offenders with violent histories, Shucosky said.

Most of the 16 magisterial court offices and the county domestic relations office reception area in the Bernard C. Brominski Building on North Street in Wilkes-Barre have bullet-resistant barriers inside.

Pennsylvania officials pushed for increased security at county domestic relations offices largely due to a 2013 shooting in Delaware, in which 68-year-old Thomas Matusiewicz shot and killed his former daughter-in-law and her friend in a courthouse lobby as they arrived for a child-support hearing involving his son. Matusiewicz then shot it out with police before taking his own life, reports said.

Magisterial-level court proceedings involving gang figures are moved to the county courthouse for enhanced security, Shucosky said.

Coincidentally, the county enacted a new policy Monday requiring all employees to show their security badges when entering county buildings, Shucosky said, citing frequent news reports of disgruntled employees elsewhere “causing a problem in their former place of employment.”

Security workers also are “reinforcing” a policy that all non-employee visitors to county buildings must go through metal detectors, including lawyers, the media, off-duty police officers and food and package delivery workers, said Shucosky, who pushed for this protocol in 2015.

Attempting to get all security-related personnel on the same page, county officials assigned the sheriff to oversee security guards last year.

Sheriff deputies provide security inside courtrooms, while security guards man the entrances to county buildings. The sheriff deputies carry guns and are called to assist and “take whatever action is necessary” to handle incidents that arise at all county security posts, officials have said.

Szumski is developing a policy and procedure manual and training program for security staff and recently surveyed employees about security concerns, Pedri said.

“This way, we have one department overseeing all security moving forward,” Pedri said Monday. “Safety is a priority, and we want to make sure we do it right.”

Pedri
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Pedri-David.jpg.optimal.jpgPedri

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

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Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.