Film Brief - Task force will examine courthouse security

Barely a month after Brian Nichols allegedly killed four people in his escape from the Fulton County Courthouse, changes are afoot. According to the Fulton Sheriff's Office, deputies are now transferring no more than 225 inmates a day from the jail to the courthouse, compared to as many as 400 before the Nichols incident.

Freeman also has added another 40 deputies to beef up security, and has installed metal detectors at the jail to make sure no contraband reaches the courthouse.

But will the changes do anything to help Freeman's political career? Already, a website, www.recallfreeman.com, claims it will start a petition June 30 to throw Freeman out of office. An elected official must be in office 180 days before a recall is initiated.

In related news, the task force Freeman promised the day Nichols was caught will begin meeting next week. The panel of 19 law enforcement officers, judges, clergy and community leaders will meet weekly for a month before issuing its recommendations.

Dale Nesbit, an appointee to the task force, says she hopes the process won't focus on laying blame. "I'm not going to shirk away from that," she says. "But that's not my objective. We had something that went terribly, tragically wrong."

A Freeman spokesman said the meetings will be held behind closed doors, but the final recommendations will be made public.??