PlanetaryWorks
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PlanetaryWorks Posts:
http://www.stockhouse.com/Blogs/ViewDetailedPost.aspx?p=88743

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Cadillac One
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Barack Obama will be in a bank vault on wheels.

8 miles per gallon.

One-of-a-kind electronics kit fitted to Obama's new armoured Cadillac limousine.

Price $545,000

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42,500-strong security detail put into place – with jets, gunboats, surface-to-air missiles at the ready

Jan 17, 2009 04:30 AM
Mitch Potter
WASHINGTON BUREAU
The Toronto Star

WASHINGTON–Barack Obama will be in a bank vault on wheels. And any of an expected two million people who hope to come within waving distance are bracing for a security check the likes of which the United States has never known.

Six months in the making – but subject to ever-tightening rule changes up to the last minute — the effort to keep America's incoming president and his well-wishers safe on inauguration day has mushroomed to a full-court press of 42,500 police, soldiers, sailors, national guardsmen and undercover agents.

All will answer to the Secret Service, but each branch is tasked with specific roles in an operation of daunting complexity, even by Washington standards.

"We've seen huge events in Washington before, but nothing like this," said Tim Nosal, spokesman for the National Capital Region Joint Task Force.

"That means we're taking an all-hazards approach, working out in minute detail the response to every worst-case scenario."

That grim but necessary mission involves processing a wide spectrum of potential threats, from an attack on Obama to a doomsday scenario involving chemical, biological or nuclear bombs.

The FBI, with a record 600 agents on the ground, is adapting to the surge in interest to witness the swearing-in of America's first African-American with new techniques. Among them, the agency will embed 100 specialized teams that will operate within Tuesday's massive crowd to enable rapid response to potential hazards.

Officials said the military's Joint Task Force, based at Fort McNair in southwest Washington, is mobilizing "major assets" that include surface-to-air missiles, fighter jets and gunboats on patrol along the Potomac River.

Thousands more military personnel selected to participate in official ceremonies in full dress uniform will move into the capital on the understanding they will be ordered to active duty in the event of an emergency, Nosal told the Toronto Star.

"First and foremost, the priority is to ensure everyone's safety. But beyond that we realize the whole world is watching and the whole world is smiling at what is about to happen here," he said. "So while we are incredibly proud to be a part of such an historic event, we're are taking it very seriously. We want a flawless inauguration."

Emerging technology will play a significant role in the equation, from the one-of-a-kind electronics kit fitted to Obama's new armoured Cadillac limousine to a dedicated cellular phone network that will serve emergency officials if existing systems overload.

Secret Service supervisors will also be overseeing a data network that combines real-time footage from an array of video feeds in the city with new mapping of Capitol Hill that features minute detail. Every parking meter, every trash can, is logged on the system.

Crowd-control is a particular concern. One Washington official this week cautioned the public to "pack a major dose of patience," with the possibility of multi-hour lineups for transit links and security checks. Officials are preparing to use the 20 Jumbotrons arrayed along the Mall facing the Capitol building and cellular text messaging to keep people informed as the event unfolds.

Behavioural experts have been enlisted into the effort to help forestall anything that might spark sudden movement, which could be deadly in a gathering of this scale.

"It helps that we are accustomed to putting all our agencies together on joint efforts in the region," said Nosal.

"From the Million Man March to the Fourth of July to the Pope's visit last year, we are used to co-ordinating our efforts to cope with very large crowds. But this is on another scale altogether.

"And we are ready."

http://www.thestar.com/News/USElection/article/572722

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