GREEN BAY (NBC26) — The Finance Committee voted in favor of the idea to contract private security at City Hall in their meeting Tuesday.
- Take a look inside the finance committee's meeting at city hall on Tuesday where they discussed bringing in a private security guard to the building
- There were also plans discussed to possibly redesign the first floor, which is set to go through a special committee in the future
- The decision to hire a security guard now gets passed on to the city council at their meeting next Tuesday
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Green Bay's finance committee votes in favor of employing private security at city hall. I'm Pari Apostolakos here with why the chief of police thinks it's a good idea.
"There have been a lot of concerns from city staff," Green Bay Chief of Police Chris Davis said.
In Tuesday's finance committee meeting, Chief Davis said city hall employees who were surveyed feel safe in the building.
However, they do want a security presence.
"This is an effort that's been underway for a while and you know, I think it's time," he said.
Davis told Alders there are security vulnerabilities in the building.
He says a private security guard would cost less than assigning a city police officer to work at city hall full-time.
"I'm inclined to support this today," Alder Brian Johnson said during the meeting. "This is the lowest barrier to entry right now to secure city hall, right? We can do it quickly, [but] it's also something we can pull back if necessary."
"The security and safety landscape in public facilities has changed," Davis said. "We have to think about risks that we didn't have to think about."
Risks mentioned at the meeting included disgruntled residents or the risk of an active shooter situation.
"You look around the country, most cities of any size you go to city hall, there's some kind of security plan there," Davis said.
Currently, there are security cameras at city hall, but Davis says there is no guarantee those video feeds are always being watched.
The decision now moves on to the city council meeting next week. In Green Bay, Pari Apostolakos NBC 26.
