Security Screening Likely For Bridge Walkers On Papal Weekend
By David Madden
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) - If you plan on walking across the Ben Franklin Bridge to see Pope Francis in late September, chances are you will have to undergo security screening.
Law enforcement sources won't go on the record, but say the idea's been bantered about for a while and will, more than likely, be put into place on the Papal weekend.
Not a bad idea, according to one local security expert.
"It's not just about the security of the individual which is obviously important," says Assistant Professor Louis Tuthill in the criminal justice department at Rutgers-Camden. "But it's about the safety of all the people that are attending the event.
Screening thousands of people walking across a bridge is a massive undertaking. Then again, that'll also be taking place for anyone trying to get close to any of the venues where the Pope will be.
That prompts Tuthill to offer a piece of advice to security officials and the general public alike.
"In any situation like this, when you don't know how many people you're going to have, you're going to have to maintain some level of flexibility" he says.
We do know that three lanes on the bridge will be open to pedestrian traffic. The other four will be reserved for emergency vehicular traffic.
Officials at the Delaware River Port Authority decline to discuss their security plans, aside from insisting people and infrastructure will be protected.