Judge English Pitches FDL County Board On Building Security

Fond du Lac County Judge Dale English pleaded with the County Board Tuesday night to include funding in the County budget for staffing a security checkpoint at the north entrance to the City-County Government Center. Judge English was the only speaker during a public hearing on the 2018 County Budget. He asked for funding for two Sheriff’s deputies to man the secure entrance with a metal detector the public would have to go through to get into the building. He asked the board to be proactive and include money for security now to avoid having a conversation later about someone being stabbed, shot or an active shooter situation.  He talked about a couple of recent situations in the courtrooms where something tragic could have happened. During one a defendant brought a knife into a courtroom during a preliminary hearing. The defendant had the knife in his pocket and a court officer saw the bulge in his pocket, patted him down and took the knife away. English says there was nothing to stop that defendant if he had wanted to stab someone with the knife. Judge English addressed the Fond du Lac City Council in September with the same request. It’s estimated it will cost $250,000 to man the security check point. The City would pay for 35 percent of the cost and the County 65 percent. (Pictured Judge English at a Fond du Lac City Council meeting in September).