Mem o

To:        Julia Coleman

From:    Jeff Cunan, District Attorney

CC:

Date:    

In response to your memo of November 15, I offer the following regarding the Plumas County District Attorney’s Office:

One of the first things I did upon taking office in January ’03 was to significantly increase the security in my office.  Other than a panic button tied to the Sheriff’s dispatch, logistically unavailable to most DA employees, we had no procedures or safeguards.  Today we have a locked security door requiring a code to gain entry.  Disseminating the code beyond the employees of our office is forbidden.  This partially addresses past problems involving weekend break-ins with a stolen key, and unscreened angry, violent people in the physical presence of employees.

We also have other security measures that are not disseminated beyond our office, which will not be disseminated here.  The effectiveness of these measures is dependant upon potential assailants not being able to circumvent them through foreknowledge.

As for safety/risk management gaps existing in the courthouse generally, I believe that the Plumas County courthouse is one of the most dangerous in California .  There is absolutely no impediment to those who would bring weapons into the building and into the various departments and courtrooms.  Angry litigants, the mentally diseased, confederates of violent criminals all are completely free to carry easily concealable automatic weapons, hand guns, explosives, knives, etc. throughout the building.  This could be easily remedied by reducing access to the building to the main entrance only, through which one must pass a manned metal detector, like almost every other courthouse in the state.

I believe that this one improvement is all that is needed to make the courthouse as safe as is reasonably possible.  Without it, it’s just a matter of time before someone gets shot, an unfortunately all-too-common occurrence in the recent history of California courthouses.