FEDERAL FACILITIES MORE SECURE

Spurred by the Oklahoma City bombing, the government has beefed up security at Cape Girardeau's Federal Building and hundreds of others across the country in the past two years.

The security comes at a cost: The government has spent more than $158 million to bolster security at federal facilities.

The General Services Administration manages federal buildings. The agency expects to complete security improvements by Sept. 30 at facilities such as the Federal Building on Broadway where there is a high volume of public traffic, said GSA official Cheryl Brace.

Brace is director of the federal protective service for the Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas region. Her office is in Kansas City.

By the end of September about $10 million will have been spent in the last two years on added security measures for federal buildings in her region.

Included in the total is an estimated $170,000 for security improvements at the Cape Girardeau Federal Building. The improvements include everything from security cameras on the building's corners to improved lighting, as well as a fence and electronic gate for the employee parking lot.

The government also has hired private security guards at a cost of $87,000 annually to augment the protection provided by federal marshals at the Federal Building.

Brace said it is more economical to hire private security guards than to bring in more federal marshals. In addition, the primary function of federal marshals is to protect the federal courts as opposed to other federal offices, she said.

With the addition of security guards, the Federal Building is now protected around-the-clock, said Duane Cary, building superintendent.

Metal detector and X-ray equipment has been used to screen visitors and packages since a full-time federal magistrate was assigned to the building in 1991.

Screening previously was done occasionally for criminal trials, but since October 1991, it has been an every-day occurrence.

Construction has begun on the project to fence off the parking lot behind the Broadway building. When completed, employees will enter the parking lot through an electronic gate.

The improvements also will include installation of a solid, metal barrier in front of the loading dock at the rear of the building. The barrier is designed to be lowered to allow trucks to back up to the loading dock, Cary said.

It is important to have security at the back of the building, particularly since prisoners are ushered into federal court through a rear door, Cary said.

For security reasons, Brace declined to discuss all the improvements at the Federal Building.

The bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building on April 19, 1995, prompted the government to take a hard look at security at the nation's federal buildings.

"Right after the Oklahoma city bombing, the president mandated that GSA go out and take a look at all of the federal buildings," said Brace.

As a result, a building security committee has been established at each federal facility. Each committee includes representatives of all the federal agencies housed in that particular building.

The government's physical-security specialists also aid the committees. Nationwide there are more than 6,500 such building security committees.

The buildings are checked periodically to see if any security changes are warranted, Brace said.

"Naturally, whenever we go out and take a look at the buildings, and this is just customary, we take a look at the lighting, we take a look at the doors and we take a look at the locks," she said.

Brace said the government is spending a lot of money to make the federal buildings more secure. But she said the cost is worth it.

She said the security efforts are designed to protect federal employees and the general public.

"Our No. 1 goal is to protect the people," she said.