Fond du Lac county officials are exploring ways to make sure all county buildings are as safe as they can be from a security standpoint. The public is not allowed to carry concealed weapons in county owned buildings and there is an armed sheriff’s deputy on the second floor of the city-county government center where the courts are located. But County executive Al Buechel says questions have also been raised about security at other buildings including the Department of Social Services and Veterans Service office and whether employees should be allowed to carry concealed weapons. “Its more of a concern of how they can respond and whether people who have concealed carry permits, I’m talking employees now, should be able to to carry if there’s an incident that they anticipate could happen,” Buechel said. Buechel says there’s not an easy answer and there are also liability concerns. He says the county is always looking at ways to improve security at the government center…including the child support office on the third floor. “Decisions are being made on people’s lives they don’t agree with and there’s always a concern that somebody is going to overreact,” Buechel said. “Right now we just have a counter there, there’s no bullet proofing there. We have added bullet proofing (windows) in the courts, Family Court commissioner area and the DA’s office.” The issue was discussed at Tuesday night’s finance committee meeting.
