Security officers lauded for service at Wayne County facilities

The Wayne County commissioners on Jan. 26 honored the security officers who have been assigned at the entrances of three county facilities over the past year.

Sheriff Christopher Rosler and the commissioners hailed the hiring of designated guards for this task rather than assigning sheriff deputies.

They lauded the performance of the three guards: Justyna Latek, assigned to the Park Street Complex; Christopher Morris, who works at the Dimmick Building; and Charles "Chuck" Shelp, who has the courthouse duty. Their purpose is to check each person for anything prohibited, including a gun or knife.

"These three have made my job so much easier," Rosler said, adding that hiring them "freed up the deputies to go out and do actual deputy jobs. We used to have one car on the road, sometime we have three cars on the road now."

With the court caseload being higher and since adding a second judge, Commissioner Chairman Brian Smith said that the need increased for sheriff deputies to provide security in the courtroom and to watch over prisoners. The sheriff recommended hiring guards for entryway security.

Rosler said each of the officers came with a wealth of knowledge in the security field.

Weapons found at courthouse

"Yesterday a lady tried to bring a gun into the courthouse," the sheriff said. "The X-ray machine found it. I'd like to thank Chuck for seeing that. I think they've made the courthouse safer because they are by the book, they do their job and do their job thoroughly." The woman took the gun back to her vehicle.

Smith recalled one time he was standing in the foyer when a sheriff deputy was on duty. A purse went through the X-ray, which revealed a pocket knife. "The poor lady didn't even know she had a knife in her purse," Smith said. They found the pocket knife had slipped down behind the seam and wasn't easy to extract.

"It just goes to show we have the abilities to find those things and to keep everybody safe," Smith said. "We do handle people here who could be coming to the courthouse and upset. Some people lose their wives, some people lose their guns, some people lose their families and children; there are some things going on and we have to remain safe." He thanked these officers for taking their role very seriously.

Being designated to a specific site, the officers get to know people and patterns of coming and going, Commissioner Jocelyn Cramer said, adding, "I see how well you treat people as they come into the building as guests always, how much you care about the county employees… and the public coming in here."

What the law requires

In an interview, Sheriff Rosler said that in his 17 years in the department, no arrests have had to been made because of someone not following the rules. He stated that anyone carrying a weapon past the barrier will be arrested.

State law, he said, prohibits the public from bringing a weapon in a county facility, including a gun, knife or pepper spray. He said a lot of people have a pocket knife not realizing they are banned.

If someone walks in aware of having a weapon, the officer should be told. The officer will direct the person to place the item in a secure lock box where it can be retrieved when leaving.

Courthouse shooting in 1977

Smith referred back to a shooting in the courthouse years ago, before there were security personnel and a metal detector at an entryway.

The shooting took place Sept. 29, 1977, outside the judge's chambers (presently the magistrate's office) in the first-floor corridor.

A separated couple was in the courthouse awaiting a hearing before Judge James Rutherford. The woman was asking the court to order her husband to stay away from her. The husband shot and wounded her with a pistol and then shot and killed himself. The judge's wife and the attorneys for both parties were eyewitnesses.

Although greater courthouse security didn't quickly follow, Rosler speculated that people may still have felt it could never happen here.

Robert F. Jennings, who was coroner at that time and had been called to the scene, recalled that after the shooting, "I suggested there ought to be stiffer security… but no one listened."

It wasn't until 2001 that the board of commissioners started the policy of stationing a deputy at the front entrance with a metal detector. This was during the time of heightened national concern following the terror attacks on Sept. 11.

Rosler estimated that perhaps 99% of the public are understanding about having to be stopped as they enter, although some see it as an inconvenience. "But that's the world we live in," he said.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Wayne County security officers lauded by commissioners