Security at ODAR Offices

[lawandorder]

Has anyone here ever been assaulted, threatened or intimidated by a disgruntled claimant? Are there any security issues in your Offices? I recently visited an ODAR Office where security was no concern whatsoever for them, and I was really stunned for their lack of concern in their physical integrity.

[dazedandconfused]

lawandorder: I manage an office, and last year we had a death threat against a judge from an unhappy and mentally unstable claimant. I notified FPS who with the US Marshals quickly arrested the individual. The threat was made by phone from a claimant several hundreds of miles away. Even though the risk of actual harm was very unlikely, ODAR does take security very seriously.

[woody]

Except you'll be asked to hold hearings in hotels etc. without any protection. Until an agitated claimant starts for you and is restrained by his girlfriend and you think, what the *** am I doing here? The Administration doesn't give a hoot, we didn't even get a wand in the office until the union pushed it through. Dazed, I disagree.

[dazedandconfused]

It may vary office to office or region to region. We recently picked up another region's hearings and learned they did not use guards for their remote sites. Even though our judges appear only by video, our region instructed the use of guards at the remote site, where only the VHR, rep and claimant appear. It is just as easy to send a guard to a hotel conference room as an office. I guess it depends on where you wind up.

[deltajudge]

8-)I will say this for OHA, when we were holding hearings at remote sites, motel or otherwise, we were provided with security. I know this varies with regions, I was in region iv and in the knoxville office.

[globalpanda]

Aug 15, 2008 17:44:38 GMT -5 lawandorder said:

Has anyone here ever been assaulted, threatened or intimidated by a disgruntled claimant? Are there any security issues in your Offices? I recently visited an ODAR Office where security was no concern whatsoever for them, and I was really stunned for their lack of concern in their physical integrity.

Lawandorder,

The administration takes security very seriously. Guards are provided (although this can vary from region to region) and the system makes some attempts to identify potentially dangerous folks before they become a problem.

Having said that, bear in mind the Administrations goals, objectives and culture. SSA is a community based agency that prides itself on its customer driven world view. We do not want to appear to be locked down in a secure fortress. Nor do we want to appear to be unresponsive, inaccessible, or uncaring.

If it is any comfort, given the millions of folks who interact with some segment of Social Security on a daily basis, there have been remarkably few problems.

[morgullord]

We had a security guard a while back that responded most quickly when the intercom announced "Food in the Break Room!"

[arlene25]

morgullord

You made me spit out my coffee!! Sadly, the only time anyone in our ODAR office moves fast is when we have goodies in the breakroom as well.

[apppending]

Can ALJ's carry a gun into the ODAR office?

[thepenguin]

Appending - only if they want to go to jail! It is illegal for anyone not authorised to bring a firearm into a Federal buiulding, leased space, etc. There was a bill to authorise all Federal Judges, after being checked out and trained by "appropriate agencies" authority to cary a firearm. As far as I can tell, it nevcer went anywhere.

[globalpanda]

Aug 18, 2008 16:28:51 GMT -5 thepenguin said:

Appending - only if they want to go to jail! It is illegal for anyone not authorised to bring a firearm into a Federal buiulding, leased space, etc. There was a bill to authorise all Federal Judges, after being checked out and trained by "appropriate agencies" authority to cary a firearm. As far as I can tell, it nevcer went anywhere.

Do not even carry a gun, or ammo, ONTO Federal property. Do not leave one in the trunk of your car for instance. Quickest way I know for an SSA employee to be hauled off in 'cuffs and summarily fired for cause. Do not even intimate that you have a gun and are going to bring it to work. You can get fired for that as well.

[trace]

For a while in Oklahoma City the OHA was housed in the downtown area in a building on main street. Hearings were held across the street in another building. You could basically walk into either building unopposed. Then they started posting guards and security became tighter after 1995. The Murrah Building was about a mile away from the OHA offices, if that far. The new Federal Building in OKC is designed in response to the events of 1995. High security etc. I would feel very safe there.