36 state unemployment offices to have armed guards

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A state agency has decided to have armed security guards on hand at 36 unemployment offices around Indiana.

Department of Workforce Development spokesman Marc Lotter says no specific incidents prompted the action. Lotter tells The Journal Gazette that some offices have had guards for nearly two years but that they were hired on a regional basis.

Other agency offices around the state that provide job training or are not full-service branches will continue to have unarmed guards.

Lotter says the agency is taking precautions with a deadline in early December when thousands of Indiana residents could see their unemployment benefits end with the expiration of the federal extensions.