About 42,000 police and military personnel will provide security for the crowd eager to witness Barack Obama’s swearing in — more than the 31,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Secret Service, in charge of protecting President-elect Obama, will oversee the 7,500 active-duty service members, 10,000 National Guard troops and 25,000 law enforcement officers from all over the country.
“We prepare for everything,” said Malcolm Wiley, spokesman for Secret Service. But the planning that has gone into this year’s presidential inauguration has been “unprecedented.”
For the past six months, security officials have been testing scenarios with tabletop drills ranging from a sophisticated strike to a lone gunman to bad weather.
Twenty-three national security subcommittees, each with experts from the federal, state and local, public safety and military personnel, have addressed hundreds of issues.
Air security has been beefed up and the military is on high alert and prepared to shoot down any aerial attack. Troops in Georgia stand ready for a biochemical attack. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is sending bomb experts and dog handlers. Overseas intelligence agencies are continually updating information on terrorist groups.
So far there have been no credible threats, FBI spokesman William Carter said.
“You’ll get individual chatter or rhetoric on the Internet, but all of that will be run to ground,” Carter said.
Inaugural activities will be spread over four days.
Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce Knowles and U2’s Bono will perform at the Washington Mall. Nearly 100 balls, receptions and dozens of unofficial parties will kick off the new presidency and bars have been given permission to serve alcohol until 4 a.m.
More than 3,000 charter buses have registered for parking spaces.
Originally, when D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier met with the crowd experts, the thought of the movement of millions of people “seemed a bit worrisome.”
“But after breaking it down and getting an understanding of it and doing the advanced planning up front, it becomes manageable,” said Lanier, who was the District’s commander of homeland security and counterterrorism before taking the top cop job.
On Friday, the Metropolitan Police Department began working 12-hour shifts. D.C. police are coordinating with 99 agencies to double its force of 4,100 officers. Police departments from Los Angeles to Lexington, Ky., to Palmetto, Fla., have sent officers to help. The FBI will have 600 agents on duty, a 20 percent increase from the 2005 inauguration. All 1,600 Capitol Police officers will be on hand.
The District and Northern Virginia will be dotted with command centers staffed with officials from the Secret Service, FBI, police and fire departments, intelligence agencies, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. A network of surveillance cameras throughout the city and in helicopters will keep a watchful lens on the crowds.
“Security is security,” Lanier said. “We’re ready.”
