Security drill planned for courthouse

By D.a. Wilkinson

A ‘rabbit’ will run into the courthouse.

LISBON — People may want to avoid the Columbiana County Courthouse between 2:55 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Jan. 29.

It will be a bad time to pay a bill or start researching the family history.

During that period, law enforcement officials will conduct a drill based on a scenario that a person wearing a ski mask has run past the security guards and metal detectors at the front door and into the courthouse.

People who are in the courthouse as the drill begins will be told to stay in that office, or be taken to the meeting room used by the commissioners.

“We certainly don’t want to inconvenience anyone,” Eric Moore, the head of courthouse security, said Wednesday.

The actual drill will only take about 15 minutes. The remaining time will be used to determine whether the drill was conducted properly.

The drill is the latest under the county’s ongoing improvements to its security.

Bomb threats, possibly by two callers, were made on March 27, 2008, to the courthouse and the county’s separate Department of Job and Family Services building. No one has been charged.

While the two buildings were evacuated without problems, the commissioners decided to look at internal security issues.

Moore has pointed out that in a recent case elsewhere, mercury, a toxic metal, was thrown inside a courthouse.

Under the county’s emergency plan, county workers are to stay inside their offices, lock the doors and turn out the lights.

Moore said the test will show if courthouse security will be aware of a situation, can inform people there is a situation and can control the situation.

That would include notification of nearby safety forces, such as the Lisbon police and fire departments, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and ambulance companies.

Someone in or near to law enforcement will be the “rabbit” running into the courthouse. During the drill, there will be a “pop” from a cotton wad and gunpowder.

The name “rabbit” also is appropriate because there are 78 rooms in the courthouse that a real intruder could run to.

Commissioner Penny Traina said the commissioners have had all the rooms numbered as part of the improvements.

Moore said that law enforcement officials have used the courthouse after hours for drills of the county’s response team. This will be the first daylight test.

Law enforcement officials also have trained at local schools after hours, which gives police direct experience with those buildings in case of a real crisis.

Moore, a former officer with Salem police, said that such activities are sort of role-playing. During long, slow nights on patrol, he thought of “what-if” reactions.

Moore said, “It comes down to the question, ‘What are you going to do?’”

He added, “I hope we never need to implement the plan.”

wilkinson@vindy.com