California County Board Adds Metal Detectors to Increase Security

A metal detector will now greet visitors to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors chambers as part of a new, broader security policy intended to boost safety.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Dec 13, 2018

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has decided to add metal detector to its chambers, part of a new, broader security policy intended to boost safety during public meetings. The County employees and members ugh the public attending the Board of Supervisor meetings will now be required to pass through the device and hand over their bags and backpacks for inspection. 

Guns, knives and flammable substances are strictly prohibited. 

The Supervisors signed off on the screening protocol on Dec. 4. The new security measure will cost about $50,000 a year to hire a firm to conduct the security screenings, but the move will provide another security layer in addition to the deputies already stationed at the chambers, which cost $32,842 last fiscal year.

The new policy was proposed in July as the county looked to upgrade security after completing a risk assessment and putting into motion measures, such as installing more lighting. The assessment followed a 2016 incidence in which a man broke into the county counsel's office.

"We feel it is appropriate to err on the side of being overly cautious," County Administrator Sheryl Bratton told a local news station. "It's hard to enunciate the risk, but given what's going on in the nation with active shooters, it is a modest improvement."