U.S. Capitol Checkpoints Return, as Do Complaints [View All]

[Rose Siding]

U.S. Capitol Police reinstated 14 traffic checkpoints yesterday and announced that police posts will be deployed intermittently around Capitol Hill for the foreseeable future to deter potential terrorists.

Capitol officials said there was no new intelligence driving the changes. The checkpoints first appeared in August and were disbanded just six days ago as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security lowered the terrorist threat level around financial centers in Washington, New York and New Jersey. At the time, officials warned that they could return suddenly.

The move drew a new round of protests from Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who said federal police ignored the views of District leaders and failed again to consult with city agencies before making the decision.

"I hope that a new form of military-type checkpoint security around the Capitol is not creeping permanently into place," Norton said, calling for a House Administration Committee hearing into "primitive" police tactics. She decried "security measures that bear no relationship to alerts, intelligence or calculations of risk and that appear to have little effectiveness as a deterrent to attacks on the Capitol complex."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54774-2004Nov16.html