Security at Capitol to be stepped up

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 21, 2008 - Page: 14A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Lawmakers agreed Thursday to tighten security at the State Capitol.

The changes approved by the Joint Select Committee on Homeland Security include screening packages, repairing cameras and limiting access to the building.

Few of the changes directly impact the public.

State Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, said the changes should cost less than $500,000, which the Legislature would have to appropriate. The proposals also must go before a special committee on historic buildings, he said.

“We have a responsibility for those who not only work here but visit here,” Walsworth said.

Lawmakers have been mulling security improvements for months.

Legislators said the level of security at the State Capitol has long been a concern.

The most notable security lapse happened in 1935, when Huey P. Long was gunned down in a State Capitol hallway despite an entourage of bodyguards.

Modern day problems include a dynamite blast in the Senate chamber during a union dispute and the shattering of a glass door by a disgruntled Hurricane Katrina evacuee.

“Our own employees have little or no protection,” said state Rep. Karen St. Germain, D-Pierre Part.

The committee agreed to:

• Move the location where packages are received from the back door of the State Capitol to a basement loading area. The packages will be screened with an X-ray machine.
• Direct the public to either climb the front steps or use doors underneath the steps to enter the building.
• Screen visitors’ bags with an X-ray machine.
• Repair the building’s security cameras.
• Repair the fire alarm system.
• Build gatehouses at the entrances to the state officials’ parking lot. Currently, motorists can drive to where the governor parks.

Walsworth said security has been very lax at the State Capitol.

Entry to other state government buildings is more stringent. Visitors must go to a security desk to sign in and receive a badge.

Walsworth said the intent of the changes is not to discourage visitors from coming to the State Capitol.