The Shelby County Supervisors will be revising their security plan for county buildings. During a regular meeting this (Tuesday) morning, Shelby County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Seivert gave the supervisors a Shelby County Courthouse interim crisis response plan. Seivert put the plan together because “acts of violence against public offices and elected officials is a distinct possibility.”

The plan includes an action plan for verbal altercations, in the event an employee becomes involved in an argument or discussion with another person, the employees in the immediate area are to call 911 and if able, outline the events occurring. A robbery or weapon displayed was also discussed, in the event an employee is confronted by someone who is making demands for money, showing a weapon or implying they have a weapon, the employee shall comply with the person and have local law enforcement deal with the attacker.

The final item was weapons being fired.  Seivert said “That would be the most critical thing to happen to us. It has gained a lot of national attention. Homeland security has come up with a similar plan for offices. They give the option to hide or to attack the individual and making it so he can’t get to you. If you are backed into a corner and can’t get out of harms way, they need to protect themselves.” Supervisor Steve Kenkel asked a follow up question about where to take the initial plan from this point forward. Seivert said “We need to look at the entire county safety plan and all other buildings. There is a lot of drafts and methods to assessing our risks.”

The board approved a review of all security in the building, with the Safety Committee with Seivert and Shelby County Sheriff Mark Hervey assisting in the plans.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)