Security ratcheted up federal buildings; others not so much

The 3-year-old Rush H. Limbaugh Sr. U.S. Courthouse could be called the crown jewel of federal buildings in the state. In fact, the grandson of the man the courthouse is named after suggests that distinction could extend much farther.

"Probably nationwide," said Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr., a U.S. District Judge who works on a daily basis at the courthouse.

The security of the building that towers over downtown Cape Girardeau, for example, is second to none, Limbaugh said.

Visitors go through an metal detectors and their belongings are sent through X-ray machines looking for suspicious items. The judges, lawyers and the U.S. Marshals are provided with underground parking. And for every noticeable security measure, there are many others that aren't.

"There's all sorts of redundant security going on," Limbaugh said. "I think this kind of security is present in all the federal courthouses at this point."

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, security was ratcheted in public buildings across the country. Even 1,000 miles from New York, the attacks shut down the airport and businesses in Cape Girardeau. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered planes and air ambulances grounded nationwide. The city and its police and fire departments were put on heightened alert.

Security at the former federal building on Broadway and Fountain Street was tightened. Extra federal marshals were posted for safety and street parking was banned around the building, the latter only changing back in July.

Ten years later, the new federal building remains an example for security measures. So it's a stark contrast when those who go into the nearby Common Pleas Courthouse or the Cape Girardeau County Courthouse in Jackson, where security measures are taken on an as-needed basis and people walk in most of the time without scrutiny.

"It's altogether different, going to a federal facility than a state facility," Limbaugh said. "I really think the state court personnel are more at risk than the feds."

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks 10 years ago today, many government officials called for making our public buildings safer, especially those that could be the target of extremists, foreign or domestic, trying to prove a point.

Some local government buildings aren't as safe as they could be, officials said, something that needs to happen regardless of how small the chance of an attack here seems to be.

Judge William Syler works at both of the courthouses in Cape Girardeau and Jackson. He agreed with Limbaugh on one point -- that while Sept. 11 raised the awareness for the need of security, the real motivator for change is due to the attack of a homegrown terrorist that blew up a building six years before the Twin Towers fell.

"It's really been a reaction to Timothy McVeigh," Syler said.

McVeigh was the U.S. Army veteran and security guard who in 1995 detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, an attack that killed 167 people and injured nearly 700 others. McVeigh's act constituted the deadliest act of terrorism within the U.S. before Sept. 11, 2001.

"But I would like to see security enhanced," Syler said. "I can't imagine we're a high-profile target for terrorists. But who knows about this stuff and what motivates people?"

It's more likely, to Syler's way of thinking, that someone angry at the court system or embroiled in a domestic problem that ends up in court would lash out.

He pointed to a case just last month when it was reported a man was arrested after attempting to back a semitrailer into the Madison County Courthouse in Illinois. The man said he was upset at the court over child support.

"We deal with cases like that all the time," Syler said.

Not that there is no security, Syler said. Security is provided on an "as-needed" basis, Syler said. Concerned judges or lawyers can request that a deputy be present in the courtroom, Syler said, and those requests are always granted. Also, for example, metal detectors can be brought in. One was recently brought in to scan people who attended the murder trial of Ryan Patterson.

"The feds don't really deal with domestic cases," Syler said. "That's an area people really have the potential to get frustrated and do something untoward. That's where nerves really get raw."

Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Paul Koeper said he's been looking into security at both the courthouses for the last couple of years. He said he has felt for some time that the county should be providing some security for the public, courthouse workers, the jury and defendants.

But a plan to provide more security at the Jackson courthouse by Jan. 1 -- and the Common Pleas Courthouse the next year -- is coming closer to fruition, Koeper said.

He would like set aside $75,000 from the county budget to install secure entrances in two spots at the Jackson courthouse -- the basement entrance to the north and the east-side entrance.

The east entrance that faces the county administration building with a walk-through metal detector with an X-ray scanning machine for carry-in items, he said.

It would cost the sheriff's department probably another $75,000 to man both of those stations, Koeper said. If they can secure the money, the goal is to have the security measures in place by Jan. 1. Then next year, he would work to do something similar at the Common Pleas Courthouse.

"It's been on the back burner for a lot of reasons," Koeper said. "But it's back on the front burner. We're looking for anything we can do that can make our buildings be more secure."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642