Protecting the Courts     

Court Security

Senior inspectors, deputy marshals and contracted court security officers (CSOs) provide security inside federal courthouses in each of the 94 federal judicial districts and in the District of Columbia Superior Court. The Marshals Service protects more than 2,000 sitting judges and countless other court officials at over 800 locations where court-related activities are conducted throughout the nation.

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of threats against members of the judiciary, U.S. attorneys and other court officers. Explicit threats against the judiciary are assessed by court security inspectors to determine the level of danger. On average, about 700 threats/inappropriate communications against judicial members are logged each year - many of which result in round-the-clock protective details.

Marshals Service court security personnel provide the latest in state-of-the-art protective techniques and equipment in all phases of court proceedings, threat situations and judicial conferences - thus ensuring quick and safe responses in emergency situations as well as unobtrusive surveillance and protection
during routine operations.

Court security inspectors conduct surveys of local court facilities at the request of local jurisdictions in order to review their equipment and security procedures.
The Marshals Service’s Judicial Security Division counts the following as highlights from Fiscal Year 2002: 

• coordinated and provided 163 instances of personal protective services to Supreme Court justices; 
• provided security services during 165 judicial conferences and 20 other significant gatherings of members of the federal judiciary; 
• coordinated and provided personnel and additional security resources for 117 trials including the African Embassies Bombing Trial in the Southern District of New York; 
• reviewed and processed 565 inappropriate communications;
• monitored and managed 21 protective details for federal judges and assistant U.S. attorneys as a result of inappropriate communications or potential threats - and six of these details were 24 hours a day;
• performed 26 physical security surveys of federal, state and local facilities.

The Marshals Service has four ongoing, long-term details - two judicial details and one U.S. courthouse security detail in the Southern District of New York as well as one U.S. Courthouse security detail in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Judicial Security Systems

In fulfilling its primary responsibility of providing security services to the federal judiciary, the Marshals Service’s Judicial Security Systems (JSS) group designs and coordinates the installation of complex electronic security systems to protect federal judges, courthouse staff members and the physical court facilities.

JSS designs low-profile weapons-screening stations used at the entrances of most court facilities. These stations are designed so CSOs can identify and seize unauthorized weapons in a setting that provides protection for them while also blending aesthetically into the lobby architecture. These stations include X-ray equipment procured and maintained by JSS with state-of-the-art detection software at more than 400 court facilities.

JSS develops standards for the installation of ballistic-resistant armor protection for courtroom benches and for those judiciary-related activities located in facilities where no weapons screening is performed. JSS also designs CSO communications systems such as base and repeater stations to ensure comprehensive radio communications throughout local facilities. JSS recently procured 175 explosive trace detections systems. These new machines, maintained by JSS, will serve as an additional tool for CSOs in primary courthouses across the country.

Judicial Protective Services (Court Security Officer Program)

The Marshals Service administers contracts for approximately 3,800 CSOs who secure building entrances at more than 400 court facilities in the United States and its territories. Many CSOs have extensive law enforcement experience with state and local police departments.

Marshals Service statistical data for Fiscal Year 2002 indicates that CSOs detected thousands of guns, knives and other items that may pose a security risk or are prohibited in the courthouse. Of these items, 2,971 were permanently confiscated or abandoned at the courthouse; the rest were returned to their owners upon their departure from the courthouse.

Judicial Security Contracts

Under an inter-agency agreement between the Marshals Service, General Services Administration (GSA) and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC), the Judicial Security Contracts staff awards and administers all contracts for CSO services as well as contracts for the installation and maintenance of security equipment.

Central Courthouse Management

The Central Courthouse Management Group (CCMG) serves as the center of expertise concerning prisoner movements and detention facilities. The group works with Marshals Service district personnel, GSA and the AOUSC when planning the construction of new federal courthouses and the renovations of existing courthouses.

CCMG staff members are responsible for the programming, planning, acquisition, budgeting, design, construction and electronic physical security of: all Marshals Service office space; prisoner movement space; operations areas; prisoner detention space; and any other physical areas associated with the security of Marshals Service space within U.S. courthouse facilities. The CCMG ensures the safety and evaluates the vulnerability of Marshals Service facilities as measured against established, objective physical security criteria, and it provides the physical security necessary to make safe and efficient prisoner movements.