New Building, New Security Measures at City Hall

Tighter security measures are in place at Bowie’s new City Hall, which opened to the public last week.

A plainclothes security guard signs in visitors, patrols the building and will eventually monitor the building’s security cameras, according to Alan Creveling, the city's emergency management resources coordinator.

While there are no plans for metal detectors at the new City Hall, an electrical conduit was put in place should the city decide to install them in the future, according to City Manager David Deutsch.

The beefed-up security at the new facility is in response to a general concern about the lack of security at the old City Hall, said Deutsch.

Previously, visitors were not required to sign in before setting off down one of the old City Hall’s long hallways and there was no guard on duty.

Mayor G. Frederick Robinson said the goal was to make the increased security as unobtrusive as possible.

“We want to provide security without turning the place into a fortress,” said Robinson.

The city entered into a short-term contract with Annapolis-based Maryland Security Professionals to provide an unarmed guard at a cost of $32.50 an hour.

The new security services would cost an estimated $84,500 a year in the fiscal 2012 budget, Deutsch told the city council during a budget worksession Monday. 

Councilman Henri Gardner asked if a city police officer could be assigned to the security detail.

“We would urge you not to do that,” Deutsch said, citing the expense and the fact that it would take an officer away from his or her duties.

The city does not pay for benefits such as health insurance and workers compensation for the private security guards.

Creveling said the city is looking at different options for the long-term security contract, which could include piggy-backing on another local government's security contract to save the city money.

City Looking for Tenants at Old City Hall

Now called the Kenhill Center, the former City Hall building still houses the city’s Youth and Family Services department, the Comcast cable payment office and the Bowie television studio.

But the city is looking for more paying tenants there.

A county agency could open a Bowie office, Deutsch said.

Deutsch told the council that the city, despite its efforts to get the word out, “didn’t get as much as a nibble” from anyone interested in renting space at the Kenhill Center, attributing the lack of interest, in part, to the economic downturn.

“I would like to see someone write us a rent check other than Comcast,” Deutsch said.