I’m writing a story about a futuristic would-be assassin, who breaks into the White House in the night to shoot the President. Readers of the first draft of my story have said that I made it too easy for the guy to break in, and that security at the White House is a lot tighter now, and would be even more so in the future. What kind of security procedures does the White House currently employ to protect the President? I know people can get to the front gates of the White House without being searched (I’ve been there and seen it), but how would you get past the gates? Are there laser detectors, armed guards, what? Are there metal detectors? Are there devices to detect plastic explosives or plastic weapons? What would be the chances of an intelligent (though slightly crazed) trained soldier getting through security and making it all the way to the President’s bedroom?
(Note to mods: I’m just clarifying that this is a fictional story about a fictional assassin; I don’t plan to use this information for any actual assassination attempts. Don’t want to get snared by the no-talking-about-illegal-things rule.)
The unfortunate answer is that the Secret Service doesn’t comment on any security procedures. Rumors run rampant regarding everything from genetically engineered bomb sniffers to surface-to-air missile batteries buried under the roses.
Here is a list of incidents that happened prior to the 2001 shooting incident at the White House.
The place seems to sewn up pretty tightly by the Secret Service. I don’t think you will be able to find much information about laser trip wires on the White House lawns. That kind of stuff tends to be on the secret side.
Some things can be said–
[ul]
[li]hidden cameras[/li][li]Electronic detectors[/li][li]Commo monitoring[/li][li]Vistor searches for non-diplomats[/li][li]Probable hidden explosive detectors.[/li][li]Guards, uniformed. (Secret Service)[/li][li]Guards, plainclothes (SS)[/li][li]Guards, armed, honor (US Military)[/li][li]High order probability of immediate response SWAT/Special Forces Units from nearby “Office Buildings”.[/li][li]Security/explosive sniffing dog teams[/li][li]Anti-aircraft units on top of nearby “office buildings”[/li][li]Possible infantry support/anti-tank weapons in nearby “office buildings”[/li][li]Probable riot control vehicle, with water cannon, in nearby “office buildings”[/li][li]Support from Federal Law Enforcement (Many in Washington area)[/li][li]Support fron DC cops[/li][li]Bio/Chem/Radiological detectors.[/li][/ul]
All these are things that we can have a high level of confidence of being in place & on duty as of today.
Batman, armed with a 1920’s Style Death Ray, if they’re prepared.
