Sheriff James Brown

Yes.

Yeah, one of the things that is very important with courthouse security is placement of the deputies. That when a defendant or someone is sitting beside their attorney, you're going to have to react to whatever they do.

So those are the sheriff's offices, but each state is different. It's really one of the things that the sheriff's offices are known for is providing courthouse security.

Well, it depends. Mostly they're known as bailiffs. They're still deputies. And the bailiffs will have different responsibilities. They have to keep the judge safe, the attorney safe, the person charged safe, victims, witnesses.

Yes. So one of the things we do in those situations is we provide a security buffer where it's a little more difficult for someone to get to that defendant. And you kind of hear different things that are being said out in the community. So you have an idea of someone saying they're waiting to get to court because they're going to do something.

So you just have to have a lot of plans and flexibility to be able to address any threat that comes up.

Right. But one of the things that we run into with jury trials is you don't want to have what some people would consider an overbearing presence of deputies. Because if you're a jury, you're sitting there saying, oh, yeah, something is really going on here.

One of the things that we do just to prevent that, if we have, you know, high-risk, high-profile cases, we'll actually have some people in plainclothes.

That'll sit in there. And so if something happens, you know, they can quickly just show their ID and help the bailiffs in uniform. Oh, my gosh.

When we've had high profile cases, we've been able to have temporary barricades placed that would help, you know, prevent vehicles from getting to people. But the main thing is people have the right to be out there and protest the case one side or the other. So as long as people can still get in and out, we also work with other agencies.

You'll reach out to a neighboring agency or the state police and they'll assist.

Yeah, there have been times that we've had to actually walk with people to their vehicles.

You're welcome, and thanks for having me.

You just have to have a lot of plans and flexibility to be able to address any threat that comes up.

Yes.

Yeah, one of the things that is very important with courthouse security is placement of the deputies. That when a defendant or someone is sitting beside their attorney, you're going to have to react to whatever they do.

So those are the sheriff's offices, but each state is different. It's really one of the things that the sheriff's offices are known for is providing courthouse security.

Well, it depends. Mostly they're known as bailiffs. They're still deputies. And the bailiffs will have different responsibilities. They have to keep the judge safe, the attorney safe, the person charged safe, victims, witnesses.

Yes. So one of the things we do in those situations is we provide a security buffer where it's a little more difficult for someone to get to that defendant. And you kind of hear different things that are being said out in the community. So you have an idea of someone saying they're waiting to get to court because they're going to do something.

So you just have to have a lot of plans and flexibility to be able to address any threat that comes up.

Right. But one of the things that we run into with jury trials is you don't want to have what some people would consider an overbearing presence of deputies. Because if you're a jury, you're sitting there saying, oh, yeah, something is really going on here.

One of the things that we do just to prevent that, if we have, you know, high-risk, high-profile cases, we'll actually have some people in plainclothes.

That'll sit in there. And so if something happens, you know, they can quickly just show their ID and help the bailiffs in uniform. Oh, my gosh.

When we've had high profile cases, we've been able to have temporary barricades placed that would help, you know, prevent vehicles from getting to people. But the main thing is people have the right to be out there and protest the case one side or the other. So as long as people can still get in and out, we also work with other agencies.

You'll reach out to a neighboring agency or the state police and they'll assist.

Yeah, there have been times that we've had to actually walk with people to their vehicles.

You're welcome, and thanks for having me.

You just have to have a lot of plans and flexibility to be able to address any threat that comes up.