Deputies at the security scanning station at the entrance to the Bartholomew County Courthouse have found items including a knife, a razor blade and a loaded magazine all in the first three days of operation.
The entrance to the courthouse has had a metal detector with Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department personnel searching handbags, briefcases and other items carried into the building. Now, in addition to that check, the purses, briefcases and other items are being scanned for contraband by a scanner similar to those used in airports to check carry-on items.
Tuesday was the first day the new scanner was operational, after the courthouse reopened to the public at the beginning of the month.
On the first day, the scanner detected a loaded magazine which is an ammunition storage and feeding device for a repeating firearm, and a knife inside a handbag.
On Wednesday, a razor blade was found and on Thursday, deputies found a “credit card knife.” A “credit card knife” is described as similar to a small pocket knife that can fit into a pocket, marketed as a “survival tool.”
Sheriff Matt Myers reminded the general public that no weapons of any type are allowed in the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
Without the new scanner, Myers said it would have been unlikely that these items would have been located.
“All patrons of the Bartholomew County Courthouse are required to go through the security check and no weapons, of any kind, are allowed inside,” Myers said.
The sheriff’s department does not have a location to keep the items while someone is in the courthouse and deputies will ask the individual to take any prohibited items outside the courthouse to their car or to their home before being allowed to enter the building.
Myers said visitors should be reminded to lock the items in their car before entering the courthouse to avoid being delayed by having to exit to secure the items elsewhere.
