Coming into city hall now means going through a metal detector, which was recently installed on the Lipan Street side of the building, the only public entrance as of Dec. 21. Photo by Carrie Robertson Meyer/Third Coast Photo
When the three doors used to get into city hall opened the morning of Dec. 21, only one was available to the public. Employees now need a security card to come in through the building’s Rankin Road and Staples Street entrances. The public is asked to go through a metal detector newly installed at the Lipan Street entrance. The Leopard Street entrance has been locked since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“We ask for patience from the public as we get this system in place,” said Senior Officer Denis Pace, the city liaison officer from the police department in charge of implementing the new security measures. “We will make it as painless as possible to keep the flow going. I don’t believe this will adversely affect people going in and out of city hall.”
The plan to tighten security in the building has been under discussion for several years, Pace said.
“City hall was built pre-9/11 with four entrances and an open floor plan,” she told Corpus Christi Business News. “This is a much-needed upgrade to insure the safety of employees and guests.”
The federal building, police department and courthouse already have metal detectors at their entrances, Pace pointed out. Also, over the 18 months she was researching the issue, Pace said everyone she contacted in similar-size cities had some kind of checkpoint coming into their city halls.
The process for entering the building now includes questions about handguns. Everyone is being asked to declare whether they have a concealed weapon and to show permits to carry one. Anyone trying to enter city hall with a gun and no permit will be detained until it is determined they do have a permit and the gun is registered to them.
“If someone says ‘yes,’ they have a handgun and don’t readily show their permit, we have an obligation to check them out,” Pace said. “That’s a public safety issue. If they have a permit, they have to have it on them. That’s the law.”
Security officers at city hall will begin keeping records of the number of people who come in and out of the building as well as any problems that come up with the current system.
“As things come up, we will decide how we need to adjust or modify our security plan,” Pace said. “ In the world we live in today, there are things we have to prepare for.”
