The Albert Lea City Council is mulling a series of security upgrades for City Hall in the aftermath of two high-profile shootings in recent months involving elected officials across the country.

Albert Lea Police Chief Dwaine Winkels and Albert Lea Fire Chief Paul Stieler presented several proposals during the council’s Thursday evening work session.

Winkels said though the odds are slim of something similar taking place in Albert Lea, there have been instances at City Hall where there have been people who have been disorderly. The proposals aim to minimize this.

Winkels and Stieler said after the council requested the two men research security measures for the building, they approached each department head at City Hall and asked what changes they’d like to see.

Changes included everything from the installation of panic buttons to new swipe cards for the doors and new cameras installed in various places.

They also included ways to protect not only City Hall staff but city information, too.

Any upgrades would come out of the Fire Department budget, Winkels noted, because this department’s budget covers City Hall maintenance.

For the Council Chambers themselves, the proposal includes two policy changes: Requring the public to remove their coats before entering the Council Chambers and making it so that packages would be subject to search.

There could also be panic buttons installed near a few of the councilors’ seats.

For the finance and human resources departments, where people can go to pay their utility bills, Stieler and Winkels talked about two options: installing glass over the top of the counter with sliding windows or raising the counter to three bank-style teller windows.

They also talked about the installation of panic buttons and the installation of card swipe door locks on the doors near this department.

The library asked for two additional security cameras — one to view the computers in the teen area and the other to view the public computers on the second floor.

Stieler also mentioned the need for an additional camera in the lower entry to cover the area on the west side of the stairway.

For the law office, where people can go to ask questions of the city attorney, the proposal includes building what would ultimately be a glass vestibule right inside the door and installing a card swipe door and speaker window with a pass-through tray. They also talked about a panic button in this office.

The simple change to the engineering and inspection departments would be to install card swipe locks on both hallway doors.

“We’re trying to find a happy medium where employees have a little more safety and the people still have the access,” Winkels said.