News Flash

Beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 3, all employees and visitors to City Hall and the Bryce A. Stuart Municipal Building will be required to pass through metal detectors and allow their bags, cases and other containers to be examined for prohibited items.

Signs will be posted at public entrances that list prohibited items. Among the prohibited items: firearms or items resembling firearms, knives and handheld weapons, controlled substances, stun guns, alcoholic beverages, tools, heavy chains, flammable, explosive or other hazardous substances.

If prohibited items are discovered during the screening, they may be confiscated. Security staff and city administration will be notified, and if appropriate, law enforcement will be called.

Anyone declining to take part in the screening will be denied entrance to the buildings. 

Citizens with implanted medical devices that might trigger an alert or prevent them from passing through a metal detector should speak with security staff before any searches begin. Alternative security measures may be used.

Requests for other types of accommodations that security personnel cannot authorize must be presented to the city manager, who will consult with the city attorney staff. Those requests should be sent to: City Manager’s Office, P.O. Box 2511, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102.

The new security measures are being implemented in response to violent attacks that have occurred in a number of local government settings across the country in the past few years, said City Manager Lee Garrity.  “We cannot turn a blind eye to the reality that gun violence can happen in any community, anywhere,” Garrity said. “We ask that the citizens understand that our goal is to keep everyone safe.”

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