Obama inaugural stress-tests its planners

by Josh Meyer

The logistical nightmare formally known as the 56th Presidential Inaugural became ever more clear today when a bevy of local, state and federal authorities invited the media over for a ``pen and pad'' briefing on what to expect when the multitudes descend on Washington for the swearing-in of the nation's first African-American president, Barack Obama.

The answer, for the most part, was that even the inauguration security and logistics planners themselves have no idea what to expect. And they admitted that they are still scrambling to devise even some of the most fundamental parts of their transportation, security and response plans.

To be sure, evidence was presented that suggested intensive and significant planning has been underway in the months leading up to the Jan. 20 event, which is now 39 days away.

Malcolm Wiley, the chairman of the Presidential Inaugural Committee's public affairs subcommittee, said 23 specialized panels have been established to deal with the minutiae of everything from dissemination of information to the public to explosives issues and even air and space management.

``All of us here at the table understand that this is a historic event,'' said Special Agent Wiley, an agency spokesman, who was flanked by officials from nearly a dozen agencies involved in some aspect of inauguration day planning. Numerous other agencies are involved, but did not have representatives in attendance.

Because the inauguration has been designated as a National Special Security Event, the Secret Service assumes its role as the lead federal agency for the design and implementation of the operational security plan.

The Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police and the U.S. Park Police as well as a number of other federal and local agencies will play an active role in securing the event and deciding what kind of resources need to be deployed to maintain security, crowd control and a host of other necessities.

Traci Hughes of the DC police department allowed that 96 other departments from coast to coast are sending 4,000 officers to augment the local cops, many of whom will continue their patrols in the rest of the city. That's about 1,000 more than at the last inauguration, officials said, conceding that this one could dwarf that one in size.

Authorities facing the often-contentious crowd of reporters also said they believe about 10,000 buses are going to come, all of them packed with exuberant history-watchers. But they also said they know of spaces for about 4,000 of them, and that they don't know yet how all the passengers will actually get to the parade route and the National Mall once they disembark.

One reporter suggested the buses, nose to tail, would span 75 miles and that their passengers-in and of themselves-would overload the city's best case scenario for public transportation.

The response by Lisa Farbstein of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority? ``Anyone within two miles should walk. .... We are not going to be able to carry all of the people.''

Trains, she said, will be at ``crush load capacity'' and the bus system will be hamstrung not only by crowds but route and bridge closures.

The authorities and inaugural organizers also suggested that they still have nowhere near the number of portable toilets they'll need for a crowd estimated at as many as 4 million people. And they strongly urged people not to bring coolers, chairs, strollers or anything else with them that might provide food, rest and sustenance even though they predicted those lucky enough to get close will be packed in tight and on their feet for seven hours or so.

Such items won't even be allowed on the parade route for security reasons.

To stop would-be terrorists from getting too close, everyone getting anywhere near the epicenter of the inauguration ``can expect some form of security screening,'' said Wiley of the Secret Service. But he and Sgt. Robert LaChance of the U.S. Park Police said it has not yet been determined whether that means metal detectors, explosives-sniffing dogs or something else.

And if there is a terrorist attack or some other need to evacuate the masses quickly and safely? Jo'Ellen Countee of Washington's Emergency Management Agency said organizers are still in the process of figuring out some kind of ``mass notification system.''

One high-tech response under consideration, Countee said, is a bunch of loudspeakers that would presumably tell people in which direction to walk, or run.

In the event of something really catastrophic, authorities said, they are also working on some kind of mass evacuation plan, though they conceded that they are still working on that as well.

Still, the briefing participants did their best to be reassuring.

``We are six weeks away yet,'' said Bill Line, the spokesperson for the National Park Service, which includes the Mall. ``The event is not tomorrow.''