LOCKPORT – Niagara County is continuing its efforts to improve security at county-owned buildings through construction of additional barriers.
Work began last week on a new security door in the hallway next to the County Legislature chambers in the County Courthouse, to block access to the Legislature chairman’s and clerk’s offices.
Jennifer R. Pitarresi, county risk management director, said a similar door will be installed in the hallway on the other side of the Legislature chambers, leading to caucus rooms and the county mailroom.
Pitarresi said the projects, done by county public works employees, are part of a series of security-related improvements on county properties since the state Workplace Violence Protection Act went into effect in September 2009.
“There was some hardening we needed to do,” Pitarresi said. “They were concerned about shootings and issues at workplaces. It was mostly because of domestic violence incidents spilling over into Social Services offices.”
The county set up a Facilities Management Team of department heads that meets twice a month, Pitarresi said. It set up a priority list of security improvements, while a risk management consultant toured county buildings and pointed out potential trouble spots.
“This isn’t a response to any particular thing or any particular threat we’re having,” Pitarresi said.
At the courthouse, where as many as four judges hold court sessions daily, security officers employed by the state Office of Court Administration operate a metal detector at the only entrance open to the public.
“I don’t know if that’s good enough these days,” Public Works Commissioner Kevin P. O’Brien said.
The metal detector is not used when nighttime Legislature meetings are held.
Pitarresi said County Manager Jeffrey M. Glatz has been concerned about security, sending out memos warning employees not to prop doors open when going out to smoke, for example. Swipe cards are used at most employee entrances, which are not usually used by the public.
Work so far has included installing higher counters in the County Treasurer’s Office and installation of a security door and a mazelike passageway that leads to the office of Treasurer Kyle R. Andrews.
At the Trott Access Center in the Falls, a longtime security sore point, several entrances have been closed to the public, and the county employs private security officers around the clock. One of them was shot in the finger by a BB gun July 11.
“We’re nowhere near done. There’s an entire list of things we still have to do,” Pitarresi said.
O’Brien said the new doors at the Legislature offices won’t violate fire codes because they will be equipped with “crash bars” to allow them to be opened from the inside.

email: tprohaska@buffnews.com