CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Waiting in line at the DMV can be frustrating at times, and the Erie County Auto Bureau wants to make sure that's as far as it goes.

"We are here to help people, believe it or not despite the outcome, and we obviously we want to de-escalate any situation if it came to that,” said Michael Cecchini, deputy Erie County clerk at the Erie County Auto Bureau.

More than 750,000 people use the 11 auto bureau sites in Erie County each year, and occasionally emotions boil over, including a recent problem at the Cheektowaga location where an upset customer said he'd return with a gun.

"We've had one of our clerks threatened in this facility," said Mickey Kearns, Erie County clerk. "Now, I can jump over that counter. There's no impediment there. These facilities were not designed for security."

Kearns has asked Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard to review security at these sites. Only the downtown location has security guards all day long provided by the Sheriff's Office, and they've responded to 115 complaints there over the last year.

"We have incidents there daily of people coming in with articles, knives, sometimes firearms that they should not be bringing in anyway," Howard said.

The Cheektowaga branch has third-party security only on Saturdays. There's no one on duty in the other nine satellite locations, which are leased by the county. Kearns wants to change that.

"There shouldn't be two standards. If you work downtown, you work in a safer building than if you work offsite at a satellite," Kearns said. "There should not be two standards and I promised the employees that I'd look into this."

So how do they plan to pay for this increase in security at these auto bureau locations? Kearns says his office does have some money available. He also wrote a letter to the Erie County Legislature, asking lawmakers to address the issue, which could include more funding to protect these sites.

"That's our hope now that we will be able to explain to the county why just checking the downtown facility and ignoring the satellite facility is a mistake," Howard said.

Kearns and Howard say they want to be proactive as they discuss options that could also include metal detectors, active shooter training and more tips for employees on how to handle confrontation and dangerous situations.