PORT TOWNSEND — Unlike at some courthouses throughout the state and nation, entering the historical Jefferson County Courthouse does not conjure up images of airport security.
There is no metal detector.
And because of that, employees and elected officials working in the 115-year-old Romanesque courthouse are at risk.
That’s the message Joe D’Amico, president and owner of Gardiner-based Security Services Northwest, is telling the Jefferson County commissioners and elected officials who have offices inside.
“Your exposure is real, and the lack of attention to this matter is significant and potentially deadly,” D’Amico wrote in a Dec. 14 e-mail message sent to the commissioners and distributed to the other county offices.
D’Amico estimated the cost of a metal detector and X-ray machine — with three full-time security officers to staff the station — would run almost $300,000 the first year and about $250,000 each year afterward.
`Very safe community’
“My sense is that this is a very safe community,” Commissioner David Sullivan, D-Cape George, said of Jefferson County.
“The cost of an increased level of security in one minuscule portion of the county is not a high priority.”
Already, the courthouse is protected by three armed sheriff’s deputies.
Under D’Amico’s plan, the three entrances to the courthouse would be reduced to only one so people could not slip through other entrances.
D’Amico suggests that the entrance on the northeast side of the building, near the commissioners’ offices, be the location because it has access for the disabled and provides enough room for the security station.
The main entrance on Jefferson Street would be locked under D’Amico’s plan.
D’Amico’s security company is entangled in litigation with Jefferson County because of lack of proper building permits at its training site in Gardiner.
He said because he’s been coming to the courthouse frequently in the past several months as a result of the litigation, he’s noticed the lack of a security at the entrances.
“I agree with Mr. D’Amico,” Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell said.
“There is a potential threat. I sure would like a metal detector.”
No further study
County Administrator John Fischbach asked the commissioners on Monday if they wanted to direct him to look into the issue further.
They told him no.