On any given day, thousands of people pass through the Wake County Justice Center. Throughout the building are 50 deputies keeping a watchful eye on judges, attorneys, the public and staff.
"Our security team gets in before 6:45," said Lt. Tony Edwards, a deputy who works the courthouse. "They do sweeps of lockups and of the courtrooms."
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They monitor 36 courtrooms over nine floors to protect those seeking and administering justice, trying to prevent a tragedy like the one in Kentucky, where a judge was shot and killed in his chambers.
"We've seen, here lately in the last few years, people are combative or belligerent, and we want to get ahead of that," said Maj. Greg Newkirk of the Wake County Sheriff's Office.
In Kentucky, the judge was allegedly shot by a sheriff, one of the people charged with protecting him.
In Wake County, Newkirk said, "Most of our judges are protected by a deputy sheriff or in some cases several deputy sheriffs. You would have to go through the deputy to get to the judge."
Judge's chambers are also locked down, accessible only to a very small group of people,
Deputies also monitor the network of security cameras sited around the courthouse.
Keys are no longer needed to unlock doors in the dozens of courtrooms.
"I can use the remote access to lock doors so an active shooter doesn't get in a courtroom," Edwards said.
In the coming weeks, the Wake County Sheriff's Office will also bring in a bomb dog – Kai – adding yet another layer to security inside.