Keeping the Tulsa County courthouse secure

The murders in Atlanta have sheriff's offices all over the country taking a close look at their own security systems. The shooting and the recent murders of a Chicago judge's family members bring

Friday, March 11th 2005, 9:32 pm

By: News On 6

The murders in Atlanta have sheriff's offices all over the country taking a close look at their own security systems. The shooting and the recent murders of a Chicago judge's family members bring to the forefront, the dangers judges can face.

News on Six anchor Craig Day says when the Georgia courtroom shootings happened, Tulsa District Judge Tom Gillert, like many people, wanted to get information. â€œFirst I thought, how did that happen? How could somebody have gotten a gun? How could somebody have gotten a gun in there?"

Judge Gillert says in such a stressful and often emotional environment, there is always the potential for some type of violence in the courtroom. "I don't think we dwell a whole lot, I certainly don't, dwell a whole lot on the aspect, prospect of danger."

But judges and deputies are always mindful something can happen. Judge Gillert says deputies do a very good job of making sure the Tulsa County Courthouse is secure. But deputies will review what happened in Georgia to see if they can learn from it. They will also reevaluate safety in Tulsa.

That's something deputies do on a constant basis anyway. Right now, the courthouse has an extensive screening process. "Security is something you always want to reexamine just as you would do anything else that you do and make sure you are satisfied that you are doing the best that you can do."

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office also does daily sweeps of the courthouse to make sure there aren't any items hidden that could be dangerous.

There are other security measures conducted at the courthouse, but details of those techniques are not released to the public.