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Julie Holcombe, Hometown News This was the case in Kirkwood, Mo., last week when Charles Lee Thornton stormed a city council meeting and shot to death five people. According to reports, the gunman had a long-standing feud with city officials who had ticketed his business on several occasions and had just days before lost a federal free-speech lawsuit.
No local councils have faced a tragedy of such magnitude, but council members have dealt with contentious situations and realize the potential danger.
Duncan Mayor John Hamby and Police Chief Ryan Cothran experienced first-hand the issue of citizen harassment when a citizen was arrested for threatening a public official in 2006.
According to Hamby, there had been no previous problems with the town, and the person had never addressed council. The threats were made outside of the town, and he was arrested within hours.
“He served time and is on probation. He cannot come to any town building without prior permission,” said Cothran.
“He has been peaceful since,” Hamby said.
Greer Mayor Rick Danner said that while no citizen has had to be removed from a public meeting during his tenure, he realizes the threat. “We are always aware that these kinds of issues can happen. When you have public meetings, there is always some uncertainty of what might happen,” he said. “We take precautions as necessary.”
Wellford Mayor Sallie Peake also has taken those precautions before a tragedy occurs.
“That’s the right thing to do. When you are in a leadership role, you have to stay ahead of the game. We value our employees and citizens, so we take that measure of security for all people,” she said.
At the Syphrit Road city hall building, all of the glass doors have been blackened with a film where visitors cannot see inside. Security glass surrounds the court clerk and judge. An officer is stationed outside council meetings and court sessions to act as a buffer between what’s going on inside and outside. And a city-wide camera system records everything taking place in and around the building and elsewhere in the city, thanks to remote units.
Nine cameras positioned outside each entrance, at select locations inside the building, and covering the surrounding grounds provide a live-feed to Police Chief Chris Guy’s office and other monitors throughout city hall. In addition, the surveillance can be viewed on the Internet if officials are away from the building. The video is stored on a hard drive for five days where it can be downloaded or recorded over in a loop.
The security equipment was purchased through a state Justice Assistance Grant.
Lyman, Duncan and Greer also follow a policy of having a police officer at all public meetings. Layers of security are added specific to each town’s needs.
Duncan Town council has asked county officers to attend some controversial meetings and videotapes public meetings with a stationary camera for extra documentation. No citizen has been asked to leave chambers, but a council member has been escorted from the building.
Most concede that in the case of a crazed gunman, who strikes out of the blue, there’s virtually nothing leaders can do to prevent such an attack short of holding meetings in a fortress-like chamber where access is tightly controlled and monitored. Woodruff Mayor Paul Bell said Friday that he hopes it never gets that far.
“I hope I never live in an area or state that comes to that,” Bell said.
Cothran said that in light of the Missouri incident, extra security, including metal detectors, could be a possibility to ensure that no weapons are brought into city hall.
“My main concern is that the council, mayor and citizens feel safe to come to council meetings. If that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do,” he said.
Greer has already decided to take that step with the new municipal complex and crime and courts buildings. Walk-through metal detectors will be installed at council chambers and courthouse; cameras will be set up at all access doors and inside access will be monitored by card scans.
“Anytime you have construction, you look not only for the current times, but also the future. It’s a preventive measure rather than reactionary. They were going to be part of the building (before the Missouri tragedy),” said Steve Owens, communications manager.
The precautions are ongoing to protect the citizens’ rights to free speech while ensuring a safe environment.
“We have to balance (safety) with the people’s rights of open government. We find that is a difficult process sometimes,” Lyman Police Chief Scott Suttles said.
He encourages awareness as a first line of defense against violent incidents.
Peake continues to add to the town’s surveillance system, which can support 24 stationary cameras, and recently engaged mobile cameras to track problems throughout the city.
“It is never sufficient. The criminal mind is working overtime,” she said. “I want state-of-the-art technology. If there’s any out there, I’m after it.”
“We can’t prevent everything, but we want to stop the things we can prevent,” Guy said.
“It’s always tragic to hear about those kinds of things. Sometimes there’s only a limited amount of things you can do to prevent tragedies,” Danner said. “It is the environment we operate in. It’s a risk that we know we take, but we do our best to minimize it, and I think we’ve done a good job in our case.”
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