Courthouse Metal Detectors Cause Delays but Get Favorable Verdict

It didn’t take long for people to start piling up Tuesday when guards switched on metal detectors at the door to the Los Angeles County Courthouse.

And it didn’t take long for confiscated “weapons” to start piling up, either.

“One had a paring knife. One person was carrying some specialty shears. One had pepper spray,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. John Stites, who is in charge of 45 new guards at the North Hill Street building.

Long lines of lawyers, jurors, witnesses and plaintiffs waiting to pass through security checkpoints snaked down the civil courthouse’s steps as the $770,000 X-ray and magnetometer system was used for the first time.

Beefed-up security also includes closure of 12 of the courthouse’s 17 entrances and the use of closed-circuit TV cameras in hallways. The new system will cost about $1 million a year to operate.

The increased surveillance is the result of the 1995 murder of a woman after a courthouse divorce hearing. Court visitors on Tuesday said they appreciate the extra security.

“I support it 100%,” said Alexander El-Darzi, a Burbank cook involved in a trusteeship dispute, who had to walk through the beeping magnetometer four times before guards discovered his belt buckle was triggering the alarm.

About 8,000 people a day visit the courthouse, where civil matters such as child custody cases and lawsuits are handled. Lines started forming at 7 a.m., according to officials.

Stites--who said the owners of confiscated items were able to reclaim them when they left--said he timed the line several times and found the longest wait was four minutes.

Businessman Bill Rice of South Pasadena set off alarms three times when he passed through the metal detector. He blamed the foil in a pack of cigarettes, but assured guards he didn’t mind the sensitive metal detector.

“I like it. I built it,” said Rice, whose Vanir Construction Management handled the three-month courthouse installation project.

Court workers also praised the increased security. They said emotions can run high in civil lawsuits, probate issues and divorce cases like the one that sparked the murder of Eileen Zelig four years ago.

The 40-year-old Chatsworth woman was killed as she rode a courthouse escalator clutching the hand of her 6-year-old daughter after a hearing over spousal support. Her ex-husband, Woodland Hills physician Harry Zelig, 48, fired one shot from a .38-caliber pistol into her chest. He was convicted in 1997 of first-degree murder and sentenced to 29 years to life in prison.

“The extra security is worth the aggravation,” said Edward Dill, an Arcadia resident who handles divorce cases as a Superior Court filing clerk. “We deal with so many difficult people and situations here.”

Lawyer Joe Girard said courthouse regulars will learn to arrive a little earlier for hearings in order to pass through the detectors. “We’re used to it in other courts,” he said.

In fact, officials said, only four county courthouses--Torrance, Rio Hondo, Santa Anita and Malibu--now lack metal detectors. A fifth, in Inglewood, is partially protected.

Only one group Tuesday seemed distressed by the new downtown security measures: the corps of bicycle messengers who make multiple trips to the civil courthouse daily.

Courier Jon Harrelson, 29, vowed he wouldn’t stand in the metal detector line if he faced an impending deadline to file court papers.

“I’m cutting in front of everybody,” said Harrelson, whose 13 years as a bike messenger have earned him the nickname “Psycho.” “Nothing will stop me.”