HPD guarding city council meetings

[virgo]

Police guard city council meetings (http://www.myhattiesburg.com/forums/"We've made a change in security because of what happened in Missouri," Council President Kim Bradley said at the start of Tuesday's meeting.)


The Hattiesburg City Council was in harmonious accord Tuesday, unanimously passing a bevy of agenda items while uniformed police officers stood by to ensure city business was not interrupted by violence.

"We've made a change in security because of what happened in Missouri," Council President Kim Bradley said at the start of Tuesday's meeting.

[Bahlk]

Link isn't working Virgo

[Bahlk]

Here is the HA article (http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS01/802200318/1002&GID=qnavCP5agKzE3HNDz85/YK7pmRbIyEsWzhNp08c4s/E%3D)

[Dixie Tree Slayer]

try this one
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802200318

[Dixie Tree Slayer]

well guess I shoulda checked to see if it was corrected before I reposted it...
Fast Bahlk :smt023 .. real fast...

[Bahlk]

I already had my caffeine this morning LOL

[jojobeans1120]

dear God! pass some this way!

[Dixie Tree Slayer]

Amen JoJo!!! Amen... Taking hounds out for a quick break BRB...

[jockpiper]

according to the HA our police officers are "unformed"??

[JMC]

Can't blame them for the beefed up security. You can't even go to work nowadays without worrying that someone is going to come in and shoot the place up. Unbelievable.

[Bahlk]

"Unformed" officers LOL. Me thinks the Hattiesburg American's proofreader hasn't had their caffeine though.

[aaron]

They failed to mention if any crimes happened in the city during the same time period.

[mi_nombre_es]

Waste o taxpayers money! Who would want to shoot at the Hattiesburg City Council anyhow? That would be a waste of valuable ammo :laugh:

[Kitty]

Waste o taxpayers money! Who would want to shoot at the Hattiesburg City Council anyhow? That would be a waste of valuable ammo :laugh:

Not if they used water guns. Arm them with super soakers! :-D

[JB2379]

Waste o taxpayers money! Who would want to shoot at the Hattiesburg City Council anyhow? That would be a waste of valuable ammo :laugh:

Believe it or not, I think there may be a couple of idiots to actually try something like that. You know, after I read that story about the council shooting in Missouri, I immediately thought about a local contractor from the Palmers Crossing area who is always at the Hattiesburg city council meetings raising hell. Heck at one point, I think he even mentioned something about an uzi machine gun, although I think he was just blowing off steam.
And if I remember correctly, wasn't the idiot that did the Missiouri shooting a contractor also?

[Bahlk]

If it can happen in a little town in Missouri, why can't it happen here. This isn't the same world from the Ozzie and Harriet days. People are stressed over way, government, and gas prices.

[Conveyor Belt]

What about Petal... some of those people HATE the mayor...

[aaron]

Can't this happen anywhere? Is the city council going to walk around with guards everywhere they go? You have to assume some risk just by getting out of bed in the morning.

[Desert Donkey]

No one has ever managed to regulate risk out of existence, and it will never happen.

You deal with it.

Our society is socialized to be so fearful,timid and anxious about literally everything that I wonder sometimes how people manage to put one foot in front of the other without prescription medication.

[politically incorrect]

Some years ago, a crazy nut went shooting up the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The first person that was shot was the security officer at the metal detector. All the security in the world can not stop someone who is crazy from taking violent action - if they are prepared to lose their own life or freedom - which most are either willing to do, or too crazy to understand. The Governor of MS has security, although I know of no assassination attempt ever made against a MS governor - with the exception of Cliff Finch, who was shot by his own wife! Sometimes having a uniformed officer around, however, keeps the hotheads from getting too far out of hand.

[XC9]

I also was at the council meeting when that certain person said an uzi should be used. I reported it here on a thread and stated that if I said that they would have hauled me off to jail immediately for making a terrorist like threat. Nothing happened to him though! If council people didn't tell untruths to their people they wouldn't have to worry about being shot at. This incident really should open council peoples eyes up and make them realize they are working for "the people" not their own private agenda. Really though, if someone wants to shoot at council people that don't have to do it in a meeting, soon, council will all want security 24/7.

[wilebill]

Believe it or not, I think there may be a couple of idiots to actually try something like that. You know, after I read that story about the council shooting in Missouri, I immediately thought about a local contractor from the Palmers Crossing area who is always at the Hattiesburg city council meetings raising hell. Heck at one point, I think he even mentioned something about an uzi machine gun, although I think he was just blowing off steam.
When I saw this story, he was the first guy I thought of.

[mi_nombre_es]

you can have all the secuirty in the world and still get taken out. These councilmen need to stop wasting the taxpayers money. If it's their time to go, it's their time to go. Accept it and move on. If you can't handle the risk in your job, then quit.

but speaking of risk, should police officers be allowed to use taxpayers money to hire secuirty for them? After all, they are in a high risk profession. They stare at death in the face on a daily basis. So who has more risk and right to protection, the police officer who tries to help the citizens or the councilmen/women who stick it to us without the curiousity of a hello or a piss off.

[SoMissTV]

you can have all the secuirty in the world and still get taken out. These councilmen need to stop wasting the taxpayers money. If it's their time to go, it's their time to go. Accept it and move on. If you can't handle the risk in your job, then quit.

Well, heck, let's get rid of the Secret Service, Homeland Security, metal detectors at the airport, and the USDA and FDA. If it's your time to go, then so be it, right?

[Conveyor Belt]

Well, heck, let's get rid of the Secret Service, Homeland Security, metal detectors at the airport, and the USDA and FDA. If it's your time to go, then so be it, right?

The point is, SMTV, where does it end? Elected representatives only? Are their lives more valuable than the news anchor on TV?

[SoMissTV]

Are their lives more valuable than the news anchor on TV?

The doors to the studio are locked when the anchor is working. The doors to the council chambers are not.

[Conveyor Belt]

The doors to the studio are locked when the anchor is working. The doors to the council chambers are not.

Who's life is more valuable? Yours? Mine? Dupree's? I got sucker punched by a guy who was angry about a note someone left on his car. I got knocked out. I could have easily have been shot over the matter and gone over trifles. Do I get a tax funded security guard because of that? What about the principal or the doctor or nurse or ambulance driver or firefighter etc? Where does it end? Aren't we all at risk from crazies?

[SoMissTV]

Do I get a tax funded security guard because of that? What about the principal or the doctor or nurse or ambulance driver or firefighter etc? Where does it end? Aren't we all at risk from crazies?

Schools systems have resource officers.

Hospitals have security personnel.

Ambulance technicians are not to enter a scene until the site is safe and secure.

If we cannot make some strides to ensure that our government can function with a reasonable expectation of security, how can our representatives effectively govern?

[mi_nombre_es]

Schools systems have resource officers.

Hospitals have security personnel.

Ambulance technicians are not to enter a scene until the site is safe and secure.

If we cannot make some strides to ensure that our government can function with a reasonable expectation of security, how can our representatives effectively govern?


Are they governing effectivly? Last time I checked, Our reps were more interested in giving themselves pay raises while the rest of Mississippi go about leading the nation in foreclosures per capita! a $13,000/yr raise would be freakin awesome for 99% of Mississippians. Maybe they should have thought about that before trying to vote in their raise.

Without a reasonable expectation of security in life, how can anyone live and rise above the damn crowd and do something truly outstanding. Right now, we are freakin sheep being herded to the Slaughter house in Jackson and here in Hattiesburg.

If our reps could actually do something right and we didn't have such a horrible, poor excuse for an education system. Then maybe I can see them spending our tax dollars on security for themselves. But as I see it right now, They have mounds more security than everyone else in Mississippi.


Edit: The Median Income in Mississippi is $25,000. That's roughly $2083 a month (per tax). Take out costs of living (power, water etc.), House payments and taxes......as a whole society in MS, we have very little spending money and we just live on credit cards and cash advance places hoping we don't miss work or lose our job because that would be the end of our joy ride. Think about what a $13,000/yr or $1083/month raise would do for people. It would put hope back in our lives! Maybe then we wouldn't be so damn worried whether we can pay the freakin bills next month or not!

[Conveyor Belt]

If we cannot make some strides to ensure that our government can function with a reasonable expectation of security, how can our representatives effectively govern?

They do it the same way I conduct my business. With the expectation that if I need help, I can call the police.

[SoMissTV]

Are they governing effectivly? Last time I checked, Our reps were more interested in giving themselves pay raises while the rest of Mississippi go about leading the nation in foreclosures per capita!

When did the Hattiesburg City Council vote to give themselves a $13,000 annual pay increase? We're not talking about state representatives in this thread. We're talking about the representatives on the City Council who should have a reasonable expectation of order and security during their official meetings.

Nice red herring, though.:kekeke:

[SoMissTV]

They do it the same way I conduct my business. With the expectation that if I need help, I can call the police.

The business they conduct is different from the business you conduct, CB. Not all jobs are the same.

[noway]

If someone wants to shoot up a city council meeting they will and can. Policemen at the front door with a metal detector might help deter something but if someone wants to do it they will.

[mi_nombre_es]

When did the Hattiesburg City Council vote to give themselves a $13,000 annual pay increase? We're not talking about state representatives in this thread. We're talking about the representatives on the City Council who should have a reasonable expectation of order and security during their official meetings.

Nice red herring, though.:kekeke:


All reps are the same, they look to line their own pockets. Reps here in Hattiesburg are no different than Jackson reps.

I was simply showing that both love to waste taxpayers money!

[SoMissTV]

Reps here in Hattiesburg are no different than Jackson reps.

I was simply showing that both love to waste taxpayers money!

Actually, state representatives and the members of the mayor/council form of government are incredibly different in their qualifications and duties. You may want to study up on municipal and state government if you do not know the difference between the two.

You have failed to establish that Hattiesburg city council members love to waste taxpayers [sic] money.

[SoMissTV]

Policemen at the front door with a metal detector might help deter something but if someone wants to do it they will.

The deterrent factor is an important part of the security process.

[Conveyor Belt]

:zelfmoord

Nothing more to say...

[firefly]

Schools systems have resource officers.

Hospitals have security personnel.

Ambulance technicians are not to enter a scene until the site is safe and secure.

If we cannot make some strides to ensure that our government can function with a reasonable expectation of security, how can our representatives effectively govern? Hospitals may have Security personell, but I had a crazed drug thug patient pull a knife on me & demanding Demerol!:ohnoes: I talked him out of it & eased out of the room & called Security then. But the point is he could have killed me before any Security guard could get there!

[goober66]

If someone wants to shoot up a city council meeting they will and can. Policemen at the front door with a metal detector might help deter something but if someone wants to do it they will.

Yep. Seems like the first two shot in MO were the officers on security detail.

I'm not opposed to security at council meetings, although their presence could be a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it might help keep irate citizens from getting out of hand. On the other, it could possibly stifle dissent from meeker folks with legit gripes and opinions.

Hey, just send the fire dept. They were responsible for security at city hall a couple years ago and did a fantastic job. Not a single disturbance during their entire tenure! :-D

[PHDPLEASE]

The deterrent factor is an important part of the security process.

Assuming that the "deterrent" outweighs offender motivation...and it often does not.

[Concernedforhburg]

It is not a surprise the City of Hattiesburg has had to move in this direction. There are many public places in Mississippi where visitors are required to go thru either metal detectors or some type of screening to enter. With the heated topics which are discussed in the council meeting room, safety for all does seem like a valid issue. However, having officers present without proper screening is a waste of time.

I would perfer individual screening and metal detectors were used on a full time basis for all the local schools and city hall. That would include employees.

I would however use a private security firm to provide the man power, versus taking officers off the streets. The cost collisum has a full time private security force on their property. Why can't hattiesburg look at something simular for their building security needs?

[Baloo]

Excellent post! Thank you concernedforhburg! Please continue to post on this forum!