Is Orange County Nuts? No Home Security At The Courthouse

It seems strange that a courthouse would become a victim to a crime that normally is reserved for a facility or home that does not have a top notch commercial or home security company protecting the property.

The Courthouse is Vandalized

On February 27th, 2009 the Orange County Courthouse in Hillsborough, CA was vandalized and the perpetrator was not caught in the act. Citizens of the community are wondering what happened to the burglar alarm system and why a building that contains highly sensitive data would not be monitored around the clock.

Everything was fine the evening before when courthouse employees closed up shop for the night on Wednesday, but when they returned to work the next morning they were taken by surprise. They found papers and scattered all over the floor in several offices as well as the courtroom. The intruder had viciously overturned several desks.

Does the courthouse have motion detectors? At 1:09 in the morning the Orange County sheriff’s department followed up a report of a suspicious looking man that was hanging around outside the courthouse. They were there within a minute of the call but found nothing unusual.

Sometime after that the crime investigators suspect the vandal got into the courthouse by yanking out a storm screen on the front of the building. It gave him an opening that was barely large enough to crawl through. If the screen had been equipped with window sensors it would have triggered an alarm and alerted the authorities immediately.

Orange County citizens are feeling a bit shaken by the incident. If an interloper was able to access one of the most important buildings in the county, what is the state of the security for the other government offices? Luckily, according to Capt. Charles Blackwood, the vandal did not take anything of value. He managed only to get away with a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the desk of a clerk but it could have been a lot worse.

Home Security Would Have Stopped the Intruder

Certain commercial and home security companies are able to assess a facility such as the courthouse and make a recommendation for a wireless system that cannot be tampered with by a savvy break in professional. The sheriff’s department is reviewing videotape files for clues to the mysterious crime, but it could have been prevented with using even a standard system that homeowners use to protect their homes.

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