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Tampa Assessed City Hall Security In 2003

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 8, 2008

TAMPA - Local government meetings can get contentious, and occasionally boisterous people are told to sit down or risk ejection. But never, at least around here, has anyone done what a disgruntled person did in Missouri on Thursday night.

Angry about losing a federal lawsuit over his free speech rights, a government gadfly walked into the Kirkwood (Mo.) City Council meeting and opened fire while shouting, "Shoot the mayor."

He killed two police officers and three city officials before officers fatally shot him.

In Tampa today, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said security at city hall was "thoroughly and aggressively assessed in 2003" after a shooting during a government meeting in New York.

"We have a layered security system that is designed to achieve the delicate balance between creating a safe environment and having a public open meeting," she said. "You can't imprison the meeting to protect the meeting."

That system always is being re-examined, but it probably won't be tweaked in light of the Missouri shootings, she said. She declined to discuss specifics of security but said measures are in place, even if they are not visible, and go beyond the uniformed officer with a metal detecting wand at the front door.

The council, though sometimes addressing stressful issues, has never come under a physical threat, she said. "If we had someone we were concerned about, the system is set up to monitor them," she said.

In Temple Terrace, violence in government meetings is an unknown.

"We do have security at the meetings," city spokesman Michael Dunn said. "We always have one or two armed officers at every meeting.

"We'll look at this to see if we need to change anything," he said. "We've never even had a threat."

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, Temple Terrace police began using a walk-through metal detector at city council meetings, he said. It is no longer is used.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter said deputies generally do not stand guard over county commission meetings but that county government has its own security officers.

"We do not have people there all the time," she said. "The only time we go is if they request our presence."

Scott Dunlap, director of security for Hillsborough County, said his officers provide the security at all government meetings.

"We always have officers there," he said, "with at least one armed security officer in the meetings at all time; two when there are public hearings.

"If something is going to happen," he said, "it'll happen at a public hearing."

From time to time, commissioners deal with hot-button issues, he said. Still, none has been threatened by members of the public, and violence has never broken out during a meeting.

Pinellas County sheriff's Sgt. Jim Bordner said it is premature to talk about changes to security at county commission meetings.

We have two deputies assigned to the county commission chambers during meetings, he said, and that has been sufficient. "They are there every day."

The same two deputies are at each and every meeting, he said, and they know the regulars and who needs to be watched.

No changes are being considered because of the Missouri incident, Bordner said. "We don't know if it is a trend or an isolated incident."

In St. Petersburg, the city has security officers that screen people entering meetings, said police spokesman Bill Proffitt.

"In addition, we have plainclothes officers at all the public meetings," he said. "We're not looking at making any changes based on what happened in Missouri."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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