New Court Security System Cuts Weapon Threat

Some people have complained about the inconvenience caused by the installation of metal detectors at the courthouse. Now comes an eye-opening report about its effectiveness.

More than 40 knives have been found outside the courthouse in Ventura since the $1.2-million security system was installed a month ago, authorities say.

Sheriff’s deputies patrolling the grounds found weapons buried in bushes and hidden under rocks just outside the north and south doors where the detectors are located, said Cmdr. Marty Rouse.

One large knife was stuck into the trunk of a tree.

“This is just what we’re getting when we search. We’ll never know how many people actually take the time to walk back to their car instead of being willing to sacrifice it,” Rouse said.

The haul includes knives ranging in length from 2 to 6 inches. Most are fixed blades. One knife was in a sheath.

Deputies also recovered a few abandoned carpentry tools and a couple of small bags of marijuana. No guns have been found.

Inside the courthouse, a few people have also been warned about carrying wire coat hangers or knitting needles. Both are considered potential weapons, Rouse said.

A court order in place bars weapons in the courthouse. So far, no arrests have been made.

Regardless, it sounds like the security system is working--and that it was a good idea, despite the inconvenience.

*

Ventura Police Chief Mike Tracy said after he was promoted earlier this year that he wanted to see more women and minorities join the force and rise through ranks.

Now, he has embarked on keeping his promise, and the search is taking his recruiters to some unusual places. Officials have begun aggressively recruiting at businesses and social and civic groups whose members include women and minorities. And beginning last month, recruiters have turned to health clubs and colleges in search of potential recruits.

Also, for the first time, officers have held a series of classes to help potential applicants prepare for a physical test that includes a 99-yard run on an obstacle course while dragging a 165-pound dummy.

A total of 172 people applied for six open positions in the January academy class, said Chris Schlag, who works in the human resources office.

Slightly more women and minorities have applied this time, officials said.

The original pool included 136 men and 36 women. The racial breakdown of men was 70 whites, 52 Latinos, seven blacks and seven Asian Americans. The women included 15 whites, 15 Latinas, two Asian Americans, three American Indians and one black.

After the physical agility test and a written exam were administered early this month, the list narrowed to 79 men and eight women.

The men include 44 whites, 27 Latinos, five blacks and three Asian Americans. The women include four whites and four Latinas.

The applicants will be interviewed this week by panels of sworn officers, who will ask a lot of questions, including: Why do you want to be a cop?

Only 10 will make the next cut, said Wayne Lewis, the department’s business services officer.

After passing background, medical, psychological and polygraph tests, six recruits will be cleared to pack for school. That battery of tests takes about three months.

“We want the best,” Lewis said.

In December, I’ll let you know who made it.

*

Those public-service spots warning of severe penalties for improperly disposing of hazardous waste are not exaggerating.

Last week, a Colorado trust agreed to pay $17,500 in penalties for illegally disposing of 110 gallons of paint and acid stored in a bin at a Ventura apartment complex.

That was a far cry from the few hundred dollars it would have cost to legally dispose of the material, authorities said.

The waste was discovered at the Pelican Point Apartments by a county environmental health worker who lifted the lid of the bin to throw away a celery stalk.

That toxic find resulted in civil and criminal cases against the apartment owner and its former maintenance supervisor, Guy M. Waldschmidt.

Waldschmidt paid $733 in fines and spent a week this summer picking up trash along the county’s roadways, after admitting to two misdemeanor counts of violating hazardous-waste laws.

“I thought it was appropriate,” prosecutor Mitch Disney said of his punishment.

*

Another criminal with an empty beaker.

A man already on parole for making methamphetamine was arrested recently on charges of driving around Thousand Oaks in a car filled with open containers of drug-making chemicals and lab equipment used to make the drug, police said.

The cops had been tailing 41-year-old Wallace Williams of Norwalk for several weeks after receiving a tip he was dealing meth in the eastern county, authorities said.

He was picked up last week in Thousand Oaks, after deputies spotted him transporting cooking equipment, several containers of chemicals and a gallon jug of a liquid methamphetamine solution, authorities said.

The components that were seized could be assembled to create a fully functioning lab capable of producing 5-pound batches of meth, authorities said.

Williams is being held without bail.

*

Holly Wolcott can be reached by e-mail at holly.wolcott@latimes.com.