Sunday
Jan162005
Inauguration to Get Unprecedented Security
Sunday, January 16, 2005 at 08:10PM
Security for President Bush's inauguration - the first
swearing-in since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - will be
unprecedented with some 6,000 law enforcement personnel, canine bomb
teams and close monitoring of transportation. In describing the plans
for the Jan. 20 event, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom
Ridge said that while the decibel level was down on terrorism chatter,
the 55th quadrennial presidential inauguration was such a high-profile
event that security would be at its highest level. "This is the most
visible manifestation of our democracy," Ridge said at a news
conference near the Capitol, where Bush will take the oath on the West
Front. Ridge detailed some of the security plans, including patrols of
harbors, mobile command vehicles, round-the-clock surveillance of the
key facilities, a record number of canine bomb teams and thousands of
security personnel. He likened the resources to those used during the
political conventions last year. "Security will be at the highest
levels of any inauguration," Ridge said. [more]
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