Maurice Police to use metal detector for those entering Mayor’s Court

MAURICE — Those attending mayor’s court in the Village of Maurice will now be subject to a scan from a hand-held metal detector prior to entering.
Maurice Police Chief Warren Rost said the move is in response to the growing number the court is seeing.
“It’s not one thing that prompted this,” Rost said. “This is just something we have looked at trying to do for a while.”
Rost informed the Village Board of Aldermen on plans to implement the metal detector during Wednesday’s General Meeting.
“We are in need of this,” Rost told the Alderman and Mayor Wayne Theriot. “We had Mayor’s Court on Tuesday and we had more than 40 people in here.”
Mayor’s court is held the second Tuesday of each month at the meeting room at Maurice City Hall. Those going before the judge are there for various citations.
“It makes everyone safer in the courtroom,” Rost said of having the scan. “Sometimes we have a full house. Sometimes when the judge passes a sentence, the person can be in an agitated form. We as officers want to know that no one in there has any type of weapon on them.
“It makes everyone feel safer.”
Rost attends the court session each month. Another officer is on hand to walk those in the court from the meeting room to the municipal side of the building to pay fines. Rost said another officer will now be at the entrance to the meeting room to conduct the scan. That process took place Tuesday.
“It was successful,” Rost said. “We borrowed a wand (detector) from the (Vermilion Parish) Sheriff’s Office.
“We are planning on purchasing one.”
Rost told the Alderman the detector will cost $200. The purchase will be made at the request of the magistrate judge.
“The judge is writing me a letter that this will be made for security,” Theriot said. “The purchase will be made through Mayor’s Court.”
Rost said ideally the purchase would not be necessary.
“It’s sad that we need to do this but we need to do it as this time,” Rost said. “I want to inform the public that when they come to Mayor’s Court, they will be scanned for any type of weapons, knives, anything.
“We are basically following what the courthouse is doing in Abbeville.”
The Vermilion Parish Courthouse began using a walk-through metal detector earlier this month. Abbeville City Hall has utilized a similar system for the last three years. Theriot and Rost each said a walk-through scanner is not a viable option for Maurice. Rost said a benefit will be had from the smaller option.
“It’s going to be a plus,” Rost said. “I just makes everybody in the building feel a little bit safer.”