How safe are you in court?

Do you feel pretty safe in the McHenry County court rooms and the Government Center? Why would that be?

Next time you are in one of the courtrooms, look around. Who has a gun in the courtroom?

You can be sure that one person in the courtroom is armed. That would be the bailiff, now called a court security officer. OK, now that you've got your eyes on him (or her) ...

Watch the officer. Notice the erect posture. Notice the keen powers of observation. (Pardon the sarcasm.) Notice the level of awareness of his surroundings. Notice the position of his hands and arms - like, in relation to his weapon.

Then watch what happens when an inmate comes into the courtroom for his case. The judge calls the case; and the bailiff heads over to that "special" door. When the door is opened, he calls out an inmate's name. Then a corrections officer, who won't be armed (no guns allowed in the jail), follows the inmate into the courtroom.

Often (most often) the inmate is not handcuffed. Watch the position of the armed bailiff carefully. In court on January 27th I watched that process several times, and any one of several inmates could have snatched the bailiff's gun and taken over the courtroom. Why?

The bailiff stood with his back to the inmate who was entering (or leaving) the courtroom and held the door open behind him. An inmate planning on a different route out of the courtroom could have snatched the bailiff's gun, and suddenly there would be one nasty situation in the courtroom.

It could be that a dozen men would shout "Let's roll" and swarm in on the inmate. Would the gun have a round already in the chamber and be ready to shoot without jacking the slide? Would the inmate, intent on escape, give up one round and pull the slide "to be sure one was in the chamber"? That would still leave him 8-9-10 rounds.

Would many in the courtroom be injured or dead before the rest could overwhelm the prisoner? Or would the crowd cower in fear and submit to the gunman?

A great deal more training and supervision is needed for and of the bailiffs.

Now, I mentioned in the courthouse. Everyone entering gets screened. Supposedly, no weapons are to be sneaked into the courthouse. So how about just grabbing one after you are in? As the court security officers move the courthouse, they are often not aware of their surroundings. Just today, one was on her powerwalk exercise with three other women on the third floor.

Distracted by her surroundings and intent on her conversation with her walking partners, she would have been easy prey for a person intent on disarming her.

When I go into the courthouse, I want to be safe. Since I am not permitted to carry a gun with which I can defend myself, I must rely on the armed employees to be ready at all times. They aren't.