Presidential inauguration safety discussed during Dallas Assist the Officer Foundation podcast
Ensuring safety during President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday is a massive challenge, with preparations underway after months of planning.
An attempted assassination on then-presidential candidate Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania in July shook the nation. Two months later, another attempt occurred at one of Trump's golf courses in Florida.
Jeff Wenninger, a former LAPD lieutenant who worked with the U.S. Secret Service to provide security to presidents and other dignitaries, recently shared his thoughts on security failures during both attempts on the Dallas Assist the Officer Foundation's "Bridging the Divide" podcast, hosted by Dallas Police Officer Joe King.
"The things that are blatantly obvious is the failure of securing certain areas, the rooftops. That's just a catastrophic failure," Wenninger said.
Now, thoughts shift to the president-elect's safety and the safety of others on Monday's inauguration. In a statement released Friday, it was noted the ceremony will be moved indoors because of the cold weather. This would be the second time in 40 years for such a move, the last being Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1985.
An indoor event would no doubt change the landscape of security detail. About 2,500 law enforcement and military personnel will safeguard Monday's presidential inauguration, including 7,800 National Guard members.
"You have the Secret Service who have very robust security measures involving multiple federal agencies, as well as bringing in over 4,000 law enforcement professionals from outside the state to assist," Wenninger said.
Wenninger believes the focus will be on prevention, including behavioral threat assessment.
"You want to have contact with the people that know them, who work with them, who are family members or friends, and then you also want to utilize what is available to you and accessible to you in a legal means, like things on social media," Wenninger said.
Wenninger said much more is involved in security than during the actual day of the inauguration.
"There are a number of rallies and receptions that are going to be taking place the days prior," Wenninger said. "For instance, on Saturday prior to the inauguration, you're going to have a fireworks display at a Trump golf course in Virginia and Sterling, Virginia, and that's wide-open areas. We had an assassination attempt already at a golf course on Donald Trump."
Also of concern is a Make America Great Again Victory Rally on Sunday at the Capital One Arena.
"That holds about 20,000 people. What makes that so challenging is they're giving away two tickets to various people who are first come, first serve. It's very, very difficult to be able to monitor and ensure the security in that type of environment when you have so many unknowns relative to the people that are going to be attending the location," Wenninger said.
These are steps Wenninger believes are crucial to avoid another assassination attempt.
