We need less security at our county courthouses

On the rare occasions that I have business in the Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington county courthouses, I’m irritated, in a small way, at the security inspections and metal detectors, which rival those at airports except that you can wear your shoes and bring mouthwash into the courthouses.

Doesn’t it seem strange to you that we tie up so many sheriff’s deputies to staff the barricades, where they do a job that’s more or less like that of entry-level TSA employees?  People who get violent at county courthouses are mostly parties caught up in the emotions of their divorce or child-custody cases, not jurors and people paying their traffic tickets.  (And I’m not speaking of the federal courthouses, which anti-government protesters sometimes target as a symbol of the government, and which do need more security.)

I’m going only on my recollection of news stories about local courtroom violence before the metal detectors arrived, which is that the three courthouses had about one incident every five years or so.  Those deputies would do a lot more to protect public safety if they were back on the street, with a few retained to staff barricades near the judges who handle divorces and child custody disputes.  We need to get the best use ("bang for the buck" probably isn’t the best metaphor here) of our public safety dollars, and having trained officers tell us to take our coins out of our pockets isn’t it.