BOISE, ID. – This week we’re looking back at what happened in Idaho right after September 11th. Ten years ago security around the state tightened, especially at the Idaho Capitol. But it’s a different story today.
Today, you can walk right through the doors of the Capitol without going through a metal detector or a bag search. But right after September 11th, Idaho’s then Governor Dirk Kempthorne beefed up security to protect the state against terrorism.
Ric Johnston: “The biggest effort was to make sure that the Statehouse was kept as the People’s House to try to maintain it as a public building, but still keep it secure.”
That’s Ric Johnston. He oversees state buildings, including the Capitol, for the Idaho Department of Administration. Johnston remembers after 9-11, Idaho State Police officers and National Guard troops patrolled the Capitol. Visitors had access to only two doors and they were subject to bag searches. Outside, steel posts and barriers kept traffic off State and Jefferson Streets.
Ric Johnston: “State Street has always been a little bit troublesome for, you know, protection of the Capitol building. . . Even a traffic accident could cause problems at the building.”
Johnston says things went back to normal after a few months. Extra security left before the 2002 legislative session started in January. But Johnston says the Capitol wasn’t the most secure building in the days after 9-11.
Ric Johnston: “At that time, Ada County Court was still hosted in the old Ada County Courthouse which is part of the Capitol Mall and I think there was far more protection in that building than any other (in the Mall).”
Today, the new Courthouse has metal detectors while the Statehouse doesn’t. This turns out to be pretty common. More than twenty other state Capitols in the U.S. have no metal detectors. That’s according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. And about half have no armed security guards. Johnston says the only armed officer at Idaho’s Capitol is a state trooper assigned to guard the Governor. After all, Johnston says, the People’s House is a working state Capitol – Its doors are open to everyone.
Copyright 2011 Boise State Public Radio