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Vigil tightened for inaugural ceremony
Law enforcement officials bracing for the largest crowds in inaugural history are preparing far-reaching security - thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols - to safeguard President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in next month.
- AP
- Published: 23:27 November 22, 2008
Washington: Law enforcement officials bracing for the largest crowds in inaugural history are preparing far-reaching security - thousands of video cameras, sharpshooters, air patrols - to safeguard President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in next month.
People attending the ceremony and parade on January 20 can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine - magnetometers like those used at airports - to countersnipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away. Plus undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols.
Risks
The Secret Service - the agency coordinating the security - also has assigned officials to identify and prevent cyber security risks. And, as it does at every inauguration, the service has mapped out escape routes for the 44th president.
In addition, Washington's 5,265 surveillance cameras, spread around the city, are expected to be fed into a multi-agency command centre. "When you have an event like the inauguration, the more eyes we have in and around the city the better off we are," District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
Streets will be closed within seven-to-eight blocks on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue, and two-to-three blocks around each inaugural ball site, she said.
The already-high security for inaugurations was intensified in January 2005, for the first swearing-in after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and this year's will follow that heightened model.
"I think you're going to get people from all walks of life come into Washington, so I think that there will be a tremendous influx of people that will come early, that will camp out early and that will probably remain, you know, to continue the festivities," said Nick Trotta, assistant director of the Secret Service's Protective Division.
The inauguration is designated a National Special Security Event, giving the Secret Service the lead among 58 law enforcement agencies involved in the security planning and execution. As the date gets closer, the service could decide to extend the special security designation to January 19, when crowds are expected to begin gathering.
Break: Handshake man absent
A confounding and perhaps divinely inspired Inauguration Day tradition is coming to an end: Handshake Man says he can't make it to the celebration on January 20.
President-elect Barack Obama will miss that special greeting experienced by Bill Clinton at his second inauguration and George W. Bush at his first: An overcoated man, whose only security clearance is his beatific smile, steps from the crowd after the swearing-in. He offers the new commander in chief a handshake, a medallion and a message from God.
The Rev. Richard C. 'Rich' Weaver - dubbed Handshake Man by followers of his exploits - has been Washington's most famous uninvited guest. Now in his early 60s, he has reached out and touched six presidents and countless senators. When asked how he penetrated the tightest of security bubbles, Weaver would say simply: "It's just God, buddy."
Now he's on the phone from Southern California, where he lives. "I have decided to not do any more with presidents," he says.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
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