Security beefed up at Council meetings

Municipal administration has beefed up security at the Civic Centre on Council nights in advance of a safety report that is expected to be finalized at the end of the month.

Michael Duben, Chatham-Kent Chief Administrative Officer, said at the start of the March 25 Council meeting that it was necessary to implement safety measures immediately rather than waiting for suggestions in the report.

“We have unfortunately and regrettably, over the last little while, have had incidents of suspicious behaviour in the building in and around council meetings,” Dubin said.

At the end of the March 18 Council meeting, Mayor Darrin Canniff asked Councillors to remain seated while clearing spectators and media from the chambers, saying “there is something we need to talk about very briefly.”

It has been learned that during the meeting, police twice escorted a suspicious man from the Council chambers.

People attending the March 25 meeting were met by a security guard at the front entrance to the Civic Centre as passes were issued to all visitors and media.

Duben said the purpose is to keep track of who and how many people are in the building.

“We feel pretty strongly that we need to make people feel secure while they’re in the building,” Duben said. “This is about the safety of not just Council but staff and visitors that come here to participate in the process.”

“Unfortunately, this is not just an issue in Chatham-Kent; there have been a number of municipalities that have had to deal with violent behaviour in Council chambers,” he said.

Duben said staff has already been working on a safety plan with recommended changes to the physical space of the Council chambers.

“We had planned on coming forward with a report to Council in five or six weeks, but rather than wait for that report to be ready, we thought we’d take some temporary steps for now,” Duben said. “We were hoping we wouldn’t have to get to this, but given some of the situations we’ve had to deal with, we really don’t have any choice.”

“We have an obligation to keep people secure and safe,” Duben said.

Since returning to full in-person meetings after the pandemic, a number of contentious issues have come before the council, causing division in the community and leading to threats against Councillors.

There were no issues at the March 25 meeting, which was over in 48 minutes.

Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News