Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505240074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, Chief Judge Jackson Kiser ordered that visitors to the Poff building pass through metal detectors, and that employees show identification to come in the back doors.
But a security guard who began asking for ID from employees she knew received an official warning for it.
The building manager, Phyllis Gray of the General Services Administration, outlined the new procedures in a memo to employees and to the two guards who provide building security. Since May 1, back doors have been locked except during certain hours, when a guard asks for photo IDs from each employee entering.
Security guard Jackie Taylor took her orders literally. She began asking everyone, including employees she recognized, to show ID, even though her supervisor told her that wasn't necessary. After she asked Judge Samuel Wilson, a deputy U.S. marshal and court security officers for identification during the first week of the new measures, she was reassigned to another shift.
Taylor said she feels as though she's being punished for scrupulously following written orders from Gray.
"I think [Taylor] wanted to comply" with the orders, U.S. Marshal Larry Mattox said. But, he said, it's "ludicrous" to card people you know.
"What I've experienced in my security details is the best form of ID is personal recognition," Mattox said. "I'm not sure if she recognized the judge. I would rather have someone be too security-conscious than not security-conscious enough."
One of the reasons for confusion may be that the officers who provide security for the courts and judges, and the officers who protect the building, take their orders from different people. Court security officers answer to the marshal, while the security guards, like Taylor, work for an outside company under contract to the General Services Administration. It was her company that issued her a warning, which she is appealing.
Mattox said he suggested, when the new procedures began, that they be eased into so employees could get used to the changes.
"We haven't had security in this building in 17 years," he said. "There's no sense going from no security to overkill on the first day."
As for whether to ask for identification from all employees coming in the door, building manager Gray said the policy hasn't changed, even though Taylor was reprimanded.
"The procedure's the same for everyone," she said. She declined to discuss Taylor's case because it is a personnel matter, but called the incident a "misunderstanding."
Mattox has told the court security officers who work directly for him that "if they're in doubt [about someone's identity], then they should challenge them."
Overall, the employees in the building have appreciated the increased security, he said.
"I'm very surprised it's been implemented without any more problems than we've had."
dG
The Oklahoma bombing has scared people.
"We're on hype instead of alert anyway," Mattox said. "Still are."
by CNB