City Hall begins new security measures

2018 audit by police found need for enhancements

The city of Annapolis is implementing new security measures at City Hall.

Starting Friday, all visitors will be required to pass through a “100% security checkpoint” at the entrance to the seat of city government at 160 Duke of Gloucester St.

Annapolis police officers will conduct the new procedures on all visitors who can either pass through a magnetometer or submit to a wand screening. The equipment is being supplied by the police department.

The checkpoint will be in place during business hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The screening process will be similar to procedures currently used at courthouses and state and county government buildings in Annapolis, said City Manager David Jarrell.

“It is crucial that we maintain the security of our buildings and operations for the safety of our employees as well as the public,” Jarrell said in a news release. “We are the last main government building in Maryland’s capital city to implement these measures. It is my hope that the public will not be greatly inconvenienced but will feel safer in our buildings.”

The security measures are the result of an audit by the Annapolis Police Department conducted in 2018, and follow-up assessments in 2019, that showed a need for a checkpoint. The measures were supposed to be installed in early 2020 but were delayed

by more than two years because of the pandemic.

The checkpoint won’t limit people’s access to City Hall, said Mitchelle Stephenson, city spokesperson, but “they might need to give themselves a little extra time.”

“You can still come in and look at the artwork that’s up on the walls and pay your bills and do all the things you would normally do but you will just have to go through a scanner,” Stephenson said.