PUSH MY BUTTON

At the CCSO we were having a problem. Many of the doors had new security locks installed. They were of the push-button variety where you punched in a four number code. Problem was folks were always forgetting what code they'd programed in. There was a way you could over-ride it and open them, but that little reprograming tool wasn't available to anyone but Roger Fussell, the guy who ran Maintenance. And Roger was a busy guy, with nineteen buildings to worry about.

We began to wonder about the integrity of the system one day when I was in the hall talking to Roger. He had two trustees with him. Trustees were used extensively at the SO, and other jails, to save the taxpayers money. As an example, it took about twenty-five to run the kitchen each day. Plus more to do the daily building clean-up and maintenance. Roger always had two or three with him.

One of the trustees, looking at the door said, "those locks are worthless, you know."

"They're a pain in the keester," Roger said, "but worthless. . ?"

"Yep," said the trustee. "Bet I can open that one up not even knowing the code."

"Okay," Roger said accepting the challenge, "let's see you do it."

The trustee squatted down to lock level, then moved his head around, looking at the lock from different angles. Then he began typing in numbers, fingers flying. Within a minute the door was open.

"What the . . ?" Roger and I both said.

"Easy," the trustee explained. "People put in their four number code and use it for a long time. Door like this, in an office, probably has the code tapped in a hundred times a day. That causes the buttons to look like they've been shined, polished from the oil in people's skin. Looking at the keys in the right light, you can tell which ones have been punched the most. Pick the four most used keys, then it's just a matter of typing in four number sequences until you hit the right one. No problem."

For me, even the possible combinations with four numbers was too much. But for a burglar, it didn't seem much of a deterrent.

Before that, I'd been thinking of putting one of those locks on my garage door. I changed my mind.