‘An abundance of caution’: Metal detector implemented at Saratoga Springs City Council meetings

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Following an announcement from the previous meeting, a metal detector was set up outside the City Council room for residents to go through before its most recent meeting.

At the May 21 City Council meeting, Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll announced the city had received recommendations from its insurance company to utilize wanding and metal detectors to  “enhance security for City Council meetings” and would be implementing these recommendations within the next two weeks.

Before the meeting on June 4, the Saratoga Springs Police Department posted graphics to its social media highlighting City Hall Security procedures and a list of prohibited items.

These graphics detailed that members of the public entering city council meetings would be subject to search and wanding, that all bags, packages, containers and property items would be subject to search and that if any of the listed prohibited items were found the person would not be allowed entry into the meeting.

Lt. Jason Mitchell, one of the SSPD members working the metal detector shared everyone was great and complied with the procedures put in place.

“Everybody was fine with us and we tried to be as respectful as we could with everybody,” Mitchell said. “We’re just trying to implement some policies based on the recommendations from the city’s insurance policy, NYMER recommended implementing some type of City Hall security, so that’s what we are doing.

“We’re just trying to implement something safe for everyone, and trying to treat everybody fairly.”

Since the SSPD was able to retain and put together a metal detector from the police station within City Hall to utilize for the meeting, there was not a need to wand those attending the meeting.

During the public comment period, members of the public were able to provide feedback on the new practices.

One thing that was brought up was the timing of these recommendations being implemented. Kristen Dart was one of the people who voiced concern, stating that the city has known that this has been an issue for a very long time, but only chose after some recent high-tension meetings to go forward with putting something in place.

“We’ve known about this problem for a long time and to roll it out after we’ve had two contentious city council meetings has left activists with a target on their back,” Dart said.

“Emmett Till was killed not simply because those men were racists, but because society had created a fear of black men and they knew that they could lynch him and get away with it because the government and society justified that. When you take actions that are new and don’t explain them and try to scapegoat the insurance company, which made the recommendations fine, but don’t communicate about what the active threats are you create that danger, and I hope in the city of Saratoga Springs we never have to have a mother have an open casket with her bloodied son in it.”

In response to this, Coll echoed a statement he made following the May 22 meeting in which he wanted to make clear implementing the metal detector was not an “indictment on any group, organization or individual.”

“The need for metal detectors, we are not attributing to any particular group or person, it is an overabundance of caution,” Coll said. “The City Council meetings in many ways over the years — there have been threats made to each other among the crowd and we just don’t know if those threats are going to remain idle.

“So in an overabundance of caution, we wanted to install metal detectors and we are in agreement with the insurance company.”

Dart also said while she was in support of there being metal detectors for people to walk through within a public building, she did not understand why they were only being implemented for City Council meetings and not being placed at the doors of the building itself.

“I think we’ve seen over and over again, our public buildings being attacked, and I am confused and concerned about why it’s only City Council meetings,” Dart said. “I think everybody coming into this building, for any reason, should have to walk through a metal detector.”

Coll explained following the meeting with the Saratogian that a comprehensive plan is going to be looked into for the entire building and that this is something both he and his deputy, Daniel Charleson, have been looking at since they took office.

“We’ve been looking at a comprehensive plan since January and we wanted to put that in our budget for next year because we wanted to lease or purchase the most advanced technology that is out there that is the least intrusive,” Coll said. “That is what we are looking at and that is what we are testing.

“But, our insurance company made a point to say that they believed that we should do metal detection immediately at the city council meetings, so that’s what we wanted to do and to get people socialized.”

Anyone having any questions regarding what can and cannot be brought into the City Council meetings can refer to the graphics posted to social media, or to the list of items that are unable to be brought into the State Capitol as the prohibited items list was taken directly from that of the capitol. People also can reach out to the SSPD for more clarification as well.