Federal and local law-enforcement agencies and military commands are planning what they describe as the tightest possible security. Almost everyone who gets within eyesight of the president either during the inauguration ceremony Thursday at the U.S. Capitol or the inaugural parade on Pennsylvania Avenue later in the day will first go through a metal detector or be given a pat-down.
Thousands of police officers and military personnel are being brought to Washington from around the country for the four-day celebration. Sharpshooters will be deployed on roofs, and bomb-sniffing dogs will work the streets. Electronic sensors will be used to detect chemical or biological weapons.
Anti-abortion protesters have been told to leave large crosses at home. Parade performers will have security escorts to the bathroom, and they have been ordered not to look directly at President Bush or make any sudden movements as they pass the reviewing stand.
The Department of Homeland Security has designated the inaugural a National Special Security Event under a protocol introduced by President Bill Clinton. The protocol calls for especially tight security during gatherings of national importance at which large numbers of government officials and dignitaries are present.
There have been 20 previous events with designated special security, including Bush's first inaugural, last year's Democratic and Republican conventions, former President Ronald Reagan's funeral and the 2002 Super Bowl.
Under the protocol, the Secret Service takes the lead in drawing up the security plan, the FBI gathers intelligence and the Federal Emergency Management Agency oversees responses to possible terrorist attacks.
The Secret Service also works closely with the Defense Department, the National Park Service, and local police agencies, especially the Washington police department and the Capitol police. About 40 agencies are involved.
The Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, which was created two years ago to bring coordination to the many disparate military units around Washington, will provide more than 4,000 soldiers to help.
Washington, D.C., police Chief Charles Ramsey has sent invitations to police departments across the country inviting them to send squads of officers to help with inauguration security.
Several thousand officers are expected, Ramsey said. That includes squads from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Bradenton, Fla., Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C., the N.C. Highway Patrol and several law-enforcement agencies in Texas and other parts of the country.
Besides weapons, other items on the banned list include coolers, folding chairs, bicycles, pets, papier-mache objects, such displays as puppets, mock coffins, props and "any items determined to be a potential safety hazard."
