Lawton City Hall will soon have metal detectors

LAWTON, Okla. (KSWO) - Lawton officials say soon when entering Lawton City Hall people will have to walk through a metal detector at the main entrance. They also plan on using handheld wands to search items and bags.

Deputy City Manager Dewayne Burk said following the council’s recommendation, they tested the building’s security.

“We actually employed the in-house police department to come in and do a threat assessment. Kind of evaluate the building and the surroundings and basically identify or try to identify the points of entry and any vulnerabilities that kind of stand out with respect to the facility,” Burk said.

As a result of the assessment, Burk said metal detectors were the best solution. He said the security guards at City Hall do a great job of securing the building and the people inside, but there is always room for improvement.

“Hey start looking at what kinds of things could we do to make the building more safe. Not just for the individuals in governing body as far as the people who work here, but for the customers and citizens that come in to feel safe in this environment,” Burk said.

He said this project is still in the beginning phase as Council still needs to approve the contract to hire people to man the metal detectors.

“Ultimately council may say ‘hey we don’t want to do this’, but I think at this point it’s kind of been their initiative, they wanted to see, and when they direct staff to bring back solutions to those things that’s what we do,” Burk said.

Burk said this will be funded through the general revenue, but does not have a set amount of money of how much this will cost.

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