Courthouse Security

Okay, I'll open this cluster .... what do you all think of the courthouse security? Anyone else see the point in having armed uniformed deputies and police officers walking through the metal dectectors and being "wanned" by Wackenhut security guards whose own backgrounds and experience might be dubious at best?????

The whole "courthouse security" system is a joke. Judges can go into the courtroom, armed to the teeth, but cops have to disarm. If something actually did go down in the courthouse, do you really think the judges are going to save the day? Get real!! They will run for cover, as they should. It's absolute stupidity having us disarm. If the sh!$ ever does hit the fan, there'll be a whole courthouse full of "victims", because nobody will be armed to take care of the problem. And heaven forbid if it's ever an organized situation, because the first place the bad guys will secure, is the gun lockers where they know all the cops have to put their weapons.
Simply assinine!

Nooooo check this out, Wackenhut, per the Cheif Judge, makes ALL law enforcement walk through the metal detectors WITH ALL THEIR DUTY GEAR on them!!! Then, we place our weapons in the box, and then get wanded to make sure we have no other weapons on our lower torso. So now here we are, standing in line with our backs to some non-law abiding people. OFFICER SAFETY< HELLO!!!! I have absolutely no problem with the majority of the citizens of Polk County as for I protect them from the non law abiding citizens and I will go down fighting protecting the citizens of this county. But come on, gimme a chance!!!!

We all get those confidential forms on how people are making weapons, such as explosive devices that can be made with hair barettes, etc. But to stand in line with my back to them, I do have a problem with.


I have a problem with Wackenhut having my gun to begin with (but I've come to terms) and being on the survival of a Baliff, some of whom barely qualify, (and I have seen some of you shoot). Wackenhut, some do, some dont have weapons, ever pay attention???

I was told that EVERYONE has to walk through the detectors.. well guess what.. it alarms like the ****ens when I walk through it.. HMMMMMMMMMMMM maybe because I have a metal gun, and a metal badge, and a metal this and that.

I guess if the time ever comes and someone con-****s a weapon made of hair barrettes and plastic I'm going to throw my bullets at them, because I have a better chance of hitting them then the baliff in some instances. I do know a few Baliffs who kick butt in shooting, you are not the ones I'm referring to.

I charge my taser more when I'm heading for court then I do the road. I have a better chance of tasing someone there then I do the road.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel comfortable placing my safety in the hands of those less capable of ensuring it. Armed law enforcement is the best protection the courthouse can have. So they make us disarm, and rely on bailiffs and private security to "take care of us" in an emergency? Come on, lets get serious! Does the Chief Judge have something against cops? Why else would he order us to disarm, then go so far as to have security wand us afterward? Sounds like he doesn't trust cops. Is it a deliberate act designed to humiliate and degrade us? To have us go through all that...in front of all the low-lifes standing in line (no offense directed at those decent citizens who also have to endure their presence)...seems to me that the Chief Judge wants to make sure that we know our place.

Remember that mall shooting that took place out west a few weeks ago? It was an off-duty cop who saved the day. He had his weapon on him, and took action to save a lot of lives, including other cops. We are allowed to carry our weapons everywhere EXCEPT the courthouse. That is absolute stupidity. There is no reason strong enough to justify disarming uniformed law enforcement in that environment. To think that Wackenhut security can handle a courthouse crisis is just a joke. Have you seen those folks? It's laughable. If I know it, don't you think the criminals know it too? And I agree with you. I know most (not all) of the bailiffs can't shoot worth two sh!$% in a sack. In this entire county, the only place I ever feel vulnerable, is in the courthouse. Even when I disarm in the jail book-in, I know I'm pretty safe. Corrections can handle any situation that might come up. But the courthouse is about as secure as the local Walmart. They have the illusion of security, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if that "security" were ever tested. I just hope I'm not in the building when it happens!

Fear not! The kid right out of high school or the 60 yr old retiree down there with Wackenhut security guard uniforms on will save you!

don't forget Watson Clinic-can't carry a weapon there either. BTW what service does the deputy in the podium platform in the lobby provide ? is he allowed a gun ?

What I don't understand is why you have to lock up your sidearm in the Polk County Courthouse in the first place? I work in the 10th Judicial Circuit and you do not have to lock up your sidearm in either Highlands or Hardee County Courthouses. In Hardee County we bypass the security checkpoint altogether. If the Chief Judge has issued this ruling for Polk County then why is it not enforced in the other two counties in the circuit. This is just idiotic to have a Florida certified law enforcement officer to have to relinquish his sidearm while a wackenhut security guard can walk around with one on. The comparison of training should put this issue to rest.

it is absolutely riduculous to check your weapon at the door. if i'm a bad guy, and i want to overpower somone in order to obtain a weapon, i'm NOT goin' after the deputy. i'm goin' after the bailiff. the deputy's weapon retention skills are HOPEFULY much higher than the bailiff. there are countless reasons d/s should be armed.

last i knew, orange county lets d/s keep sidearm.

how difficult is it to stash a .38 in your vest or right above your gun belt. that wand is useless from the groin to the armpits.

just my opinion. rather be "tried by 12 than carried by 6"...

- ex leo

In my 25 years of law enforcement in Polk County this has to be one of the hardest things for me to swallow. To surrender my firearm at the courthouse, to someone you could not have a law enforcement career or is old enough to have had 2 or 3 careers sickens me. If you read G.O. 1.5 it still tells us not to surrender our firearm, yet we must do so in the one place where every accused (real) criminal in the entire county will be at one time or another. I can not believe anyone would feel safer by have LEO's firearms taken away at the door.

Everyone needs to remember this when we vote!

so i go into the courthouse for a depo. i'm wearing jeans and polo shirt, nothing to mark me as a deputy. i go through the civilian side and they spot a handcuff key on my keyring. they ask me why i don't go through the employee entrance.

i replied "on this side you treat me like an average person,over there you treat me like i'm a criminal trying to sneak a gun in". the GED recipient in front of me starts laughing and lets me in without ever checking my id to see why i have a handcuff key with me.

i'm thinking of checking in an airsoft pistol and keeping my glock hidden in my vest.