After “reevaluating” security measures at the Morton Holbrook Jr. Judicial Center in downtown Owensboro, the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office implemented additional safety measures in January.
While, in the words of DCSO, this may cause “inevitable frustration to employees and patrons of the judicial center alike,” the Sheriff’s office said these new measures are all about keeping the community as safe as possible.
Patrons and those who work closely with the court system will now see two walk-through magnetometers when they enter the judicial center. Chief Deputy Sheriff Major Barry Smith said a metal detector was moved from a separate area to the entranceway in the attempt to shorten wait times and long lines.
Moreover, those who set off alarms in the magnetometers will have to remove either their shoes or belt in the process of entering the judicial center. Booties are provided for those who have to remove their shoes.
“Steel-toed shoes, for example. They would set off the alarm there,” Smith said. “Now we’re having people take their shoes off and run them through the X-ray. It’s the same with belts. We’ll have you take something off if you set off that alarm signal.”
As for what led to these changes, Smith said a recent incident caused DCSO to take a deeper look into security at the judicial center.
“We just tweaked some of our policies and procedures over there,” Smith said. “Back in the summer, we had an incident — we took custody of him later in court, but an individual had a small pocket knife in the waistband area. There was no threat involved. But we did look back to make sure that didn’t happen again. We do try to learn.”
Another security measure DCSO has tweaked focuses more on fairness than seizing potential weaponry. Formerly, the judicial center would allow specific employees who frequented the building to go around the security checkpoint. Now, however, everyone must take the time to go through security.
“Some professionals we were waving around [security]. If you’re not an attorney or law enforcement, you have to go through the magnetometer,” Smith said. “We’d just rather check everyone. We don’t want to make judgment calls on anyone. This is just standard procedure, the way it is. It also tightens security up a bit.”
With the new safety measures in place, backpacks will also be held in the security area until patrons leave the building.
In order to make the experience a little smoother and faster, Smith recommends leaving all pocket knives, scissors and other metal objects in vehicles. DCSO also recommends patrons arrive at the judicial center 30 to 60 minutes before scheduled appointments so that longer lines don’t interfere with important matters.
Smith said because the judicial center is often short-staffed with a consistent line of traffic coming through the doors, patience may be necessary in adapting to the new security measures.
