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With a man facing charges for allegedly running down two judicial marshals as he fled the  Manchester courthouse Monday, some Connecticut court watchers want the state to ramp up courthouse security.

Their calls follow multiple incidents in recent years that have put the spotlight on courthouse safety.

"Certain marshals should be armed," said Joe Gaetano, president of the union that represents Connecticut's approximately 650 judicial marshals. "If people know they are armed, they will think twice about doing something that could put others in danger."

Gaetano's call follows a defendant's daring escape attempt.

Defendant Jose Lopez was in court to face a sixth-degree larceny charge, but dashed out of the courtroom, mowing down two marshals as he attempted to speed off in a car. He was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, two counts of assault on a public safety office, and evading responsibility after he attempted to flee the courthouse.

Gaetano recommends arming marshals posted at several areas in the courthouse, including near metal detectors, at front entrances and on prisoner-transportation teams—but not in courtrooms or in lock-up.

"The front doors are where they are needed," he said. "It's … a deterrent."

Superior Court Judge John Blawie, who presides at Stamford Superior Court, said armed personnel works. He said a state trooper, who has been posted in his courthouse since Feb. 24, has made a difference.

"It's a visual deterrent," Blawie said. "It eases people's fears. It's a symbol, I believe, that justice is going to be served. … We want people who come to feel like they can come to the courts in our state, without being in fear."

'On the Front Line'

The Lopez incident is one of many that have plagued courthouses from Connecticut to California.

For instance, in Decatur, Georgia, in 2018, a courtroom brawl spurred a mistrial. And in 2019, a man opened fire in a federal courthouse in Dallas. In 2014, a shooter fired at an Oakland, California, courthouse. In Connecticut, there was a quadruple shooting near the steps of the Bridgeport courthouse in January. That event led to the Judicial Branch to pay for six troopers to work overtime at six busy courthouses in the state to the tune of $17,819 a week.

Gaetano said budget cuts left a personnel shortage of 200 to 250 marshals across the state. He said the marshals that remain on the job are often anxious and nervous to come to work everyday.

"It can be very dangerous," Gaetano said. "If you happen, for example, to be in family court there could be violence when someone loses a house or their kids. Our guys are on the front line."

Gaetano said he's hoping, in the wake of Monday's incident, that either the judicial branch or Connecticut Legislature will approve a measure to arm state marshals.

Government officials appear to be weighing the issue.

Connecticut's House Judiciary Committee is looking into providing funding for arming state marshals, but is also grappling with the potential downsides of that measures, said Pullman & Comley attorney Steven Stafstrom Jr., who chairs the committee.

Stafstrom said he feels safe in the state's courthouses, but acknowledged "a rash of incidents lately which require action."

"Obviously, it's an added cost," Stafstrom said. "You need to purchase equipment and there is post training and certification. There is also the concern of having armed guards at the doors of the courthouse, because it will make it even less inviting and intimidating to the public who are entering the building to do business."

The Connecticut Judicial Branch did not offer anyone to speak on the topic, but did issue a statement that Chief Court Administrator Patrick Carroll III read before the Appropriations Committee in February.

In it, Carroll mentioned a "violent drive-by shooting" Jan. 27 outside a Bridgeport courthouse, and "other dangerous situations that jurors, detainees, staff, and the public have confronted while at court locations, including brawls, altercations, assaults, and the like." He said the incidents reinforced the judicial branch's "resolve to enhance safety and security in and around court building."

Carroll told to the committee, "I will need your support through an appropriation of $5.5 million to continue law enforcement coverage at all courthouses during peak vulnerability."

 

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