ATLANTA — Right now, local sheriff’s offices are working to implement a law that would increase security in courtrooms across the metro area.
The law allows officers to carry weapons in government buildings.
Channel 2's Nefertiti Jaquez went to the the Fulton County Courthouse to learn more.
“We go through the checkpoint, remove our weapons and put them in a locker,” Fulton County police Maj. Wade Yates told Jaquez.
At least, that was the procedure police followed at the Fulton County Courthouse prior to the signing of House Bill 292 in May.
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For years, police officers have not been allowed to carry their firearms into government buildings, including courthouses, but the new law opens the door for them to do so.
"What history shows is that what stops most active shooters in this country is the appearance of the police officer with a gun,” Yates said.
Yates was the detective on the rape case trial for Brian Nichols in 2005.
“It’s hard to describe,” Yates told Jaquez.
Nichols terrorized the city of Atlanta by going on a killing spree and escaping the Fulton County courthouse.
Previously, only deputies with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office or those deputized by the Sheriff could be armed. Details @ 11PM @wsbtv. pic.twitter.com/a3RfoQ2bKB
— Nefertiti Jáquez (@nefertitijaquez) July 8, 2017
Nichols escaped from custody by overpowering a female sheriff’s deputy, stealing her gun and murdering the judge presiding over his trial, a court reporter, a deputy and later a federal agent.
Nichols is now serving life in prison.
Yates says there were dozens of unarmed officers in the building that day, but they weren’t close by, so he cannot predict if the new law would have changed the outcome.
“This didn’t happen anywhere near that floor,” Yates told Jaquez. “So would those officers being armed would have done anything? Likely not. But, in the minutes he went out the side door, would it have helped? Very possibly.”
As for House Bill 292, which took effect July 1, Yates said he can only hope it will help officers keep people safe.
“I'd much rather have the perpetrator encounter me rather than a civilian,” Yates said.
Cox Media Group
