Yakima County Commissioners Searching For Savings In Budget

The Yakima County Commissioners today begin searching for savings in criminal justice as the commissioners announce the recently formed law and justice panel review committee...the committee is going to be looking ways the county can save money in all areas of criminal justice. the panel is expected to issue a report for the commissioners to consider during the 2013 budget cycle.

Put your belongings in a basket, and walk through.
it may look like airport security, but the Yakima County Courthouse is just taking precautions. looking through bags and purses for weapons. some say it's a waste of time, while others feel safer. In December alone, there were nearly 800 weapons taken from people walking through security. Before the detectors, security took only 10 a month on average. In January, officers found and removed 36 guns. that's up from four or five a year before the new system.
security tells our news partner KIMA action news there will be a learning curve before people learn to pay attention to signs and leave their guns and weapons at home. But, if you do enter the courthouse with a knife or handgun, you have two options. you can either walk back outside and put it in your car, or store it safely in designated lockers. That is if it's a legal item or you have a permit to carry it in the first place.
officers say there have even been a few who tried to bring drugs into the building. Add all of these people to the list of about 500 courthouse arrests each year.
About 26,000 people walk into the courthouse each month. Security officers tell us high-profile cases and gang trials require the added security.