The 2013 Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. has had its security measures planned, initiated, and retooled along the way for over one year now. The streets and waterways proximate to the Inaugural route will be bottled-up tightly by several thousand law enforcement officers, in many modes, from all levels of the police community: Federal, state, county and city. Cops from over 40 states will be present and on-duty to ensure a safe and secure event.
Moreover, railroad police have weighed in as Amtrak will have a heightened contingency of Amtrak Police officers and mobile security patrols to ensure presence upon its jurisdictional grounds (railway stations and conduit premises).
Washington, D.C.s Metrorail police department will be significantly supplemented by over 20 external agencies from some of the biggest cities across the nation, each supplying railroad cops.
“More than a million people are expected to ride Metro on Inauguration Day and their safety is our top priority,” said Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn. “We are doing everything that we can to ensure that our customers ride the Metro system without incident.”
“We’re seeing an unprecedented level of interest and cooperation from law enforcement agencies across the country. The collaboration from our fellow law enforcement agencies is a valuable partnership and provides an added layer of security to ensure the safety of our customers,” intimated Taborn. “We’re grateful for their assistance and are excited to have them participate alongside us for this historic occasion.”
According to former FBI Assistant Director John Miller, who delineated on CBS This Morning some component resources: “You’ll see the Coast Guard on the Potomac shutting down the river during the entire time the inauguration is going on. They pull out all the stops and all the toys come out.”
“From Jan. 20 to the 22, during that 48-hour period, the waterways will be closed to all recreational boating traffic,” intimated Cmdr. Kevin Kiefer of the U.S. Coast Guard. It was reported, however, that commercial traffic water vessels will be permitted to ply the waterways--unlike the last inauguration--but all under a tremendous blanket of attention and scrutiny.
For this inauguration, Kiefer said, “...we’re going to allow these vessels that operate, basically, water taxis and dinner boats, but they've received special permission, they've submitted their sail plans, they’ve been fully vetted and we have some higher security measures in place."
“The National Guard will operate over a hundred traffic control and crowd management points extending from the Tidal Basin, up 23rd Street across K Street and Massachusetts Avenue to North Capitol Street,” essentially totaling over 7500 National Guard airmen and soldiers, 1500 of which are from the D.C. Guard, said D.C. Brigadier Gen. Arthur Hinaman. These troops will be assigned traffic posts and crowd management assignments.
Indeed, given the expectation of significant attendance this year, estimably close to one million people, a plethora of law enforcement assets have been assembled.
“Dozens of agencies are aiding the law enforcement effort … That includes the Secret Service … but also 3,900 District of Columbia officers and more than 2,000 officers from 40 states across the country,” said Miller.
Albeit covertly emplaced, a counter-assault team following President Obama during his parade route walk are in positions and charged with thwarting sudden unexpected threats from attendees.
Rest assured, ample police assets will be aerially placed, positioned on the ground, and poised in transitional patterns to ensure non-stagnancy in the President's movements, micromanaging every nook and cranny imagineable. Nothing unusual, but merely an incessant ostensibly-requisite need for enhancements each inauguration, given the growing foreign and domestic terrorist threat climate.
Presidential Inauguration 2013 will likely have an innumerable count of spirally ear wires all attuned to communications pertinent to what/who is moving, ceasing to move, furtive activities, and anything which is deemed to be extraordinary and/or worth verification.
The police apparatus and weaponry expected to be present on the streets will be symbolic of the current hotly-debated policy focus on gun control. In total, approximately 12,000 security force officers will be present throughout the 57th Inauguration. Furthermore, every asset ensuring the full force of the Federal Government will partake in some form or fashion to ensure a safe event.
What are your opinions and perspectives regarding the gun control debate? Please take a moment to record your input and response(s) in the "Comments" section below.
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