FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A metal detector and X-ray machine will now greet visitors at the Fond du Lac City-County Government Center.
Those weren’t here last year… when Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt tells FOX 11 a man brought an empty gun case into the building.
“He walked up into a courtroom, set on the table in the courtroom, in front of the district attorney and the judge and the staff and the citizens that were in that courtroom.”
Sheriff Waldschmidt said that person was trying to prove a point– that he could walk into the building with a weapon and no one knew.
That didn’t sit well with Waldschmidt or Fond Du Lac County Executive Allen Buechel.
“These types of buildings are targets for people who want to do damage to folks.”
He pointed to May’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach where a disgruntled city worker shot and killed 12 people, and wounded four more at a government building.
“It’s what’s happening all across the country. The question is what are we going to do to protect the public and protect our employees in this building.”
Buechel tells FOX 11 the new security checkpoint costs close to $80,000 total. This money came from taxpayer dollars.
Waldschmidt runs down some of the basics..
“Backpacks, briefcases, those kinds of things, purses that you bring in will go through an X-ray machine. The person will physically walk through a metal detector to make sure that they don’t have any metal items or weapons on them.”
The public will only be able to enter the building where these machines are set-up. As of right now, employees will not have to go through the security checkpoint to get into the building.
“It’s gonna be a quick and easy process. And that’s our goal– to get everybody through with minimal delay,” Sheriff Waldschmidt said.
The center will be doing a “soft opening” this week to make sure the checkpoint is running smoothly.
