The City of Tracy is responding to a rash of verbal abuse by people who visit City Hall for motor vehicle purposes.
“The safety of the employees here at the City of Tracy is obviously very important to the council and myself,” Tracy City Administrator Jeff Carpenter said at Monday’s Tracy City Council meeting.
Carpenter informed the council that over the past couple of years, a number of “scary situations” have taken place at the DMV at City Hall and possibly at the Tracy Public Library as well.
“We have irate people that get to the point of being violent,” he said. “There have been a few times …we’ve heard filthy language and screaming because of the rules of the DMV. It’s gotten a little bit to the point where we need more safety.”
Carpenter said he doesn’t want to get to the point where the City installs plastic barriers or windows like can be found at the Lyon County Government Center in Marshall, but he does believe the City needs to have a direct contact with the Tracy Police Department in case another issue arises.
As what appears to be the first step to increase safety at the main office at City Hall, the City has contracted with Advanced Health, Safety and Security out of Balaton to install a 5-inch touchscreen security and control plan and an encrypted wireless panic button that will instantly alert Tracy Police.
The estimated cost of the equipment, including installation is $1,753.91, which would be paid for from the City’s IT funds. Ideally, the technology would be in place sometime in December.
“It always seems like something happens when just one person is here,” Carpenter said. This system “will be a direct contact with the police.”
This could be just the first step in enhancing safety at City Hall, as more meetings between City officials and employees will be held in the future.
Council member Jan Arvizu said she witnessed one of the incidents at City Hall and said Plexiglas barriers like the ones the City implemented during the pandemic fall short of what she believes the City needs to provide the adequate level of safety for City employees.
“An immediate response from the police, I think, is critical,” Arvizu said.
Arvizu said locking some doors at the VMC to limit access is also needed. Carpenter said the door on the east side of the City Hall building that leads directly into council chambers is locked when there are no meetings going on, as are other doors in the building.
“It’s become serious; we’re not living in the same world we used to,” said Carpenter.
The impetus of acts of verbal violence seems to revolve around motor vehicle issues pertaining to the obtaining of registration tabs. Some motorists looking to take care of those kinds of issues aren’t aware of more strict standards from the state and become frustrated with staff, leading to altercations.
“We have to follow the rules that State has set,” Arvizu said. “We’re kind of like an extension of the State; we are not making these rules up ourselves, but we have to follow them.”
