Police department launches security checkpoint at Bradenton City Hall public meetings
Residents attending public meetings at Bradenton City Hall will now be subject to a metal detector screening and bag check before entering the council chambers.
“For the safety and comfort of all, before entering council chambers (a) metal detector screening is required,” according to notices posted throughout City Hall.
The Bradenton Police Department said the changes stem from a security protocol review that was conducted over the summer. Money for security devices was included in the 2019-2020 budget, according to Assistant Chief Josh Cramer.
“The idea is to try to keep the building safer. It’s not something you hear about all the time, but most bigger cities — for years — have had these sort of protocols,” Cramer explained.
The Manatee County School Board instituted its own security checkpoint that requires public meeting visitors to be inspected by handheld metal detector wands and have their bag checks by police officers in August.
Public meetings hosted by the Manatee Board of County Commissioners do not require security checks, but “building hardening” is one of County Administrator Cheri Coryea’s priorities. The county plans to begin a security review in April.
The police department did not point to a certain trigger event that brought about the new security changes, but the policy comes after a series of run-ins with residents at public meetings in the area.
In May, community activist Rodney Jones was forcibly removed from a City Council meeting when he went over his allowed time for public comment and refused to give up the podium. He was also removed from a school board meeting for a similar issue in July.
More recently, Bradenton police and school officials removed Arthur Huggins from a Nov. 12 school board meeting.
Public meetings throughout the county are typically staffed by at least one law enforcement officers that monitors from the back of the room.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 2:24 PM.
