Stepping Up Security for the Inauguration

"Though intelligence agencies have detected no credible threat to any inaugural event or to Mr. Obama, law enforcement agencies, operating from a network of centers, will command ground, air and waterborne forces numbering in excess of 20,000 police officers, National Guard troops and plainclothes agents from more than 50 agencies, according to security planners."

"The security measures, enhanced by a White House announcement of emergency financing for public safety, are by far the most extensive and stringent for the swearing-in of a president — a task vastly complicated by a crowd that is expected to reach two million to four million people who will face successive rings of security, each more restrictive than the last before they get near inaugural events."

"While the federal security officials have not projected their total cost for the inauguration, officials in the District of Columbia have said the city might spend nearly $50 million. State officials in Maryland and Virginia have estimated they might spend $12 million and $16 million respectively, and officials in each of the three jurisdictions have said they hope the federal government will help pay for their expenses."