A real problem needs a real solution

For the second time in three months, a situation at the Putnam County Courthouse has required swift, decisive police action -- inside one of the third-floor courtrooms.

On Wednesday afternoon the scene was Superior Court where a defendant charged with voluntary manslaughter was making his initial hearing and suddenly seemed to realize the dire circumstances in which he finds himself. With that realization, chaos ensued (see story, page 1A).

While the situation never really got violent, what emerged as a prolonged, loud verbal outburst easily could have escalated into something more if not for the presence of five uniformed officers, including Sheriff Scott Stockton and Chief Deputy Phil Parker.

Back on March 10, meanwhile, it was a Greencastle man bursting into Circuit Court, threatening Judge Matt Headley and eventually making an aggressive move toward the bench before he was subdued by Cloverdale Officer Charlie Hallam, who happened to be in the courtroom that day.

Within hours of that incident the question of what the county can do to keep it from happening again was being asked in this very space.

As noted then and worth repeating now, questions of courthouse security are nothing new to county leaders. Those discussions go back to at least 2007, at which time a courthouse deputy was added.

And that was important Wednesday. With courthouse deputies Brian Walden and Steve Fenwick already on the scene and Stockton and Parker positioned strategically at the rear of the courtroom and just outside the prosecution side of the table, respectively, it was almost as if authorities had expected something to happen.

After all, it was a young offender in court who had reportedly taken the life of his own relative just days before as they drove through Putnam County. At just 18 years old, incarcerated in another state and realizing there is unlikely to be a quick end to his problems, a recipe for trouble brewed.

Readers might remember that our March editorial stressed that we were lucky before but can't just rely on luck to keep everybody safe.

Granted, luck can be described as "the residue of design," as noted baseball executive Branch Rickey -- the man who brought Jackie Robinson to the major leagues -- so appropriately deduced. Our officers were prepared this time. So they indeed made their own luck.

But this was a highly visible case. One that could be prepared for.

Yet people come and go every day in the two Putnam courts, and the chance of there being multiple officers in one of those courtrooms the next time something dicey surfaces is slim.

Preparation for dangerous suspects or violent offenders, such as some of those visiting on occasion from Putnamville, is somewhat expected and logical.

But as our judges and courthouse staff will tell you, it's more likely to be someone who has lost custody rights or believes he or she has been wronged in a divorce settlement or child-support issue that ends up making threats or causing a disturbance because of the often volatile nature of such cases.

Yes, it's the everyday defendant who often can present an unexpected cause for concern.

We know that the Putnam County Commissioners, Putnam County Council and our judges have been talking about the issue and recently met for a joint executive session on courthouse security.

And it's been suggested that a secure courthouse likely will mean reducing its access points to one and placing a metal detector at that entrance. It could mean additional courthouse deputies. That translates into money becoming an issue when there is little to no new money to be found.

Yes, twice we have been lucky now. But we can't expect that luck to hold out forever.

It's time for the residue of our design to produce a real solution.