PORT TOWNSEND — The shooting of a sheriff’s deputy and stabbing of a judge in a Montesano courtroom last week has renewed discussion about security in the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Outside of the courtrooms, there are no security systems in place in Jefferson’s 120-year-old courthouse at 1820 Jefferson St.
“I’ve always felt the need for increased security,” said District Court Judge Jill Landes.
“The incident in Montesano brings to light how vulnerable we are.”
Steven Daniel Kravetz is accused of shooting Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Deputy Polly Davin with her own gun and stabbing Superior Court Judge David Edwards on Friday during a confrontation in the county courthouse in Montesano.
Kravetz, 34, was arrested Saturday at his mother’s home in Olympia, where the deputy’s gun was recovered.
He has been booked into Mason County jail in neighboring Shelton.
Both Davin and Edwards were treated and released later Friday from Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen.
According to Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley, there are two reasons that make security difficult in the Port Townsend courthouse — the design of the building where there are three unsecured entrances and a budget shortfall that hampers setting up a security system.
Morley said the Montesano incident brought the issue to the forefront.
“Whenever there is an incident like this, the county will review the situation,” he said.
“We have started a dialogue with our department directors and the Sheriff’s Office.”
Ramping up courthouse security would be in two stages, Morley said.
One is acquiring the equipment needed to make the building secure.
Then there is the need to have personnel operate it, which Morley said would translate into as many as four full-time positions.
Landes thinks that if a disaster occurs, the county will find the money.
“In King County, they said the same thing about not having the money to pay for security,” she said.
“But someone was shot, and there was a metal detector there the next day.
“It’s like when a child is killed at a busy intersection where there is no stop sign — they put one up right away.”
Landes said she doesn’t expect action to be taken without a crisis, saying “we live in a reactive society.”
Both Superior Judge Craddock Verser and District Court Administrator Tracie Bick said there is no “if” with regard to a courthouse incident; it is definitely a “when.”
“It would be nice to have more security, but there isn’t any money for it,” Verser said.
“We need to have an open courtroom, and whenever court is in session there is always a deputy at the door.”
Joe D’Amico, president of the private security company Security Systems Northwest of Discovery Bay, has recommended increased security for several years and submitted a proposal in 2007 for the Jefferson County Courthouse.
D’Amico said he couldn’t recall specific numbers but estimated the total cost was between $300,000 and $400,000.
D’Amico said he agrees that an incident will need to happen before things change.
“It’s like with my home security clients where there needs to be a break-in before they put in an alarm system,” he said.
Sheriff Tony Hernandez said his office is only responsible for courtroom security.
Whenever court is in session, an armed deputy is always present, he said.
“The Sheriff’s Office is responsible for courtroom security, not courthouse security,” Hernandez said.
“It is up to the commissioners to change that.”
Morley said there is no immediate action planned.
Some staff members are concerned.
Superior Court Administrator Michelle Moore said what happened in Montesano could easily happen in Jefferson County.
“The state of economy, lack of state aid and the unemployment rate are pushing citizens over the edge,” she wrote in an email to the Peninsula Daily News
“We are fooling ourselves if we continue to treat our security situation at the Jefferson County Courthouse as it was 10 years ago when Port Townsend was just an off-the-grid tourist attraction.
“The recent murders in Sequim, shooting of the Washington state trooper in Gorst and now this senseless act of violence in Montesano at the Grays Harbor Courthouse brings the random acts of violence even closer to home.”
But Auditor Donna Eldridge said she isn’t worried.
“I feel safe,” she said.
“You could go anywhere — like a grocery store — and violence can happen.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
