NEWS COMMENTARY
A few weeks back I wrote an essay for the Middletown Press about the proposed security plan for city hall which would include a full-time policeman, and eventually a metal detector.
I thought it was a ridiculous attempt at creating "universal safety and security" that would have turned city hall, one of the most public and publicly-accessed, buildings in town into a building which would be difficult to access, and would serve to keep the public away.
Certainly, the public, and the public servants should be made to feel relatively secure in the building, and the regular exchanges of cash in some offices need to be made secure, but any system which discourages access to the building should be dismissed without further exploration.
Still, at a meeting of the Personnel Review Committee, two members of that committee, when hearing that the security plan had been killed by the mayor, decided to revive the security plan and put it on the Public Safety Commission agenda for discussion tonight.
The reason: a shooting at a school board meeting in Panama City, FL.
Emotionally, one can understand how volunteer public servants, and paid public servants, would be disturbed and alarmed by the shooting (which resulted in the death of the assailant, though no death of public servants thanks to an armed security guard). The video went viral, and it's horrifying to watch.
But the statistics don't bear out the need for an elaborate security system for city hall. One of the reasons this Panama City incident was so widely reported is because it is rare, and it was televised. More people die of lightning strikes every year in the United States, than the number of public servants (excluding police) who are killed by gunshot.
Last year, 33,800 people died in the U.S. in auto accidents. We should be more concerned about our public servants as the come and go to meetings, and to work, than we are about what might happen to them inside city hall.
The mayor of Bristol nearly died while choking on a piece of food at a public event. Shall we require our public servants only to eat food that is pureed?
Common sense dictates a modicum of security: a police officer in attendance at any municipal meeting which might be controversial, a security guard in parking lots after meetings, proper security measures in offices which collect cash. Maybe even a beat which requires a police officer to stop at city hall once an hour.
We could all attempt perfect safety by living inside a security bubble. We could issue bullet-proof vests, visors and helmets and have our board and commission members dress like they're ready for SWAT duty. We surrender our liberty, and our access to government if we create any system that discourages participation. That's something our municipal leaders need to keep in mind in creating any new security system for city hall.
3 comments:
Since when does one incident (in Panama City, FL) make the Middletown City Hall at risk? Who do they, and how important do they think they are to waste our tax dollars making themselves seem more important thean they really are? We at a small town with limited resources and tax revenuse, of which they already waste more than we can afford.
Well said, Ed. Perhaps city hall should buy a copy of Daniel Gardner's book "The Science of Fear". He shows how we are inordinately afraid of risks that are very unlikely to actually occur (terrorist attacks, sharks, random shootings) while we calmly engage in behavior that is much more likely to actually hurt us (driving, playing sports). I think this proposal is a clear illustration of this phenomenon. City hall workers would probably be much better off if instead of a full time police officer sitting in the lobby the money was spent fixing the potholes in the parking lot, keeping the hallways clear of boxes and stray objects, replacing broken office furniture, and replacing burned out light bulbs. THese are not very sexy proposals, but they are much more likely to actually keep everyone in city hall safe from harm.
The city council should also keep in mind that the Panama City attack occurred at a school board meeting. How is the council and mayor going to react when the Board wants to fire three teachers and replace them with a full time police officer at the BOE building?
We cannot live our lives by fear. I agree with Ed. No security measures would have prevented the attorney from getting killed in the Court parking lot or the Wesleyan student at the bookstore. Once there is an attacker who will go to the length of actually shooting or killing somebody, it is generally already too late for violence prevention (obviously in some cases quick-thinking people can avert disaster like in FLA). But in reality, violence prevention needs to happen much earlier. For one, helping people get help who are on the path to acting on insanity, delusions, hate and obsession.
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