In 10 Years Since Fulton County Courthouse Shooting, Security Heightened Yet Shrunk
Today marks 10 years since Brian Nichols, an accused rapist on trial, fatally shot three people at the Fulton County Courthouse. This incident raised immediate concerns about security at the courthouse, and a Fulton County Courthouse Security Committee presided by Judge T. Jackson Bedford released in 2006 a report of recommended security changes.
Bedford said over the last 10 years, revamped security in the Fulton County Courthouse has influenced protocol in other courthouses across the state. New safety measures have included hallway checkpoints, more intensive courtroom searches, bulletproof windows and more secure doors, and safety training for judges and staff.
Some changes were direct responses to what had happened in the 2005 shooting, like rules prohibiting sheriffs and deputies from bringing weapons into cell areas. Brian Nichols had forcibly taken the gun he used from a deputy.
Bedford believed the new security measures have, in all, made the courtroom a safer place, but there is one thing he thinks could still be done to make the courthouse more secure:
“My personal opinion is somewhat controversial, but I don’t think there should be guns in the courtroom. Period. End of sentence. But I am totally in the minority on that position.”
Bedford was aware security can slow things down for people coming to the courthouse, and that can be frustrating to everyone involved in the judicial process. But he noted that security protocol is for the safety of the public as well as the judges and staff.
“We often say that other than the Fulton County jail, on any given day we have the highest concentration of people that have been charged with crimes over here in the courthouse,” Bedford said. “And so we want to make sure that everybody’s safe. And that’s what all of this is designed for. Because unfortunately it cost three really incredible lives to bring this back to focus how important this is.”
One reason for longer security wait times could be understaffing. Greg Land of the Daily Report recently compared the 2006 list of security recommendations to conditions at the courthouse today. He found that the Fulton County Courthouse actually has fewer security staff members today than in 2005.
”They said that the [security] staffing, which at that time ranged from about 200 to 235, was, and I quote, ‘significantly understaffed,’” Land told Rose Scott and Denis O’Hayer. “Currently, they have 170 positions but only 152 are currently filled.”
Land reported the sheriff’s budget, which accounts for staff at the county jail and the courthouse, has been slashed by about $10 million this year.
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