Visitors now greeted by state troopers at Gold Dome

By Aaron Gould Sheinin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Visitors to the state Capitol will notice some changes, and they are colored blue and gray.

State troopers are now patrolling the Gold Dome and its immediate surroundings as the state beefs up security following a January carjacking of a Public Service Commission employee. The Department of Public Safety created a new State Patrol post at the Capitol complex, and 22 troopers are now assigned there.

But the changes will not result in fewer troopers on the roads and highways of metro Atlanta, officials said.

On Dec. 29, two males approached a state employee in the parking lot of the state archives building, ordered the woman out of her car at gunpoint and then drove away in the car, police said.

Atlanta police officers found the car the following day and arrested Kenney Desmond Ponder, 17, of Atlanta. Capitol police charged Ponder with hijacking a motor vehicle and possession of a firearm during a crime.

The new post will be funded in part by a $500,000 addition to the Department of Public Safety's budget. Department spokesman Gordy Wright said the U.S. Marshals Service several years ago suggested states replace private security guards at state capitols with armed law enforcement officers.

"About 35 states now use state troopers as enhanced security," Wright said, adding that the changes were already being considered before the carjacking.

Other changes are also in the works. Visitors soon will have to enter through one or two doors on the Capitol's second floor, while the ground-floor entrances will require employee access cards for entry.

"After a state employee was carjacked late last year, the governor asked our public safety experts for an assessment of security in the Capitol area," said Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal. "He endorsed the assessment and consulted with the lieutenant governor and speaker [of the House]. Thousands come through the Capitol during the session, and the governor will listen closely to the advice of security experts when it comes to protecting lives and state property."