Study: Washington's monuments vulnerable to terrorists

The Washington Monument

July 2, 2000
Web posted at: 12:08 p.m. EDT (1608 GMT)

In this story: Funding blamed Police: Visitors should feel safe Monument held hostage RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federally funded study suggests Washington, D.C., monuments and memorials may be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

The "National Park Service: Strategic Counter-Terrorism Plan" says the U.S. Park Police communications system is old and unreliable and national landmarks, such as the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, often are left unguarded or unlocked, according to the Post.

MESSAGE BOARD National security    VIDEO CNN's Miles O'Brien interviews Lisa Mendelson of the National Park Service on security issues and the restoration of the Washington Monument (July 2) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

The report said attacks on the high-profile sites could create chaos similar to the bombings at Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center in the 1990s.

Funding blamed

The 200-page report, written by Booze-Allen & Hamilton, blames the alleged vulnerability on an underfunded U.S. Park Police, the law enforcement agency of the National Park Service.

The report says the Park Police is understaffed by 150 officers but needs more than double that number to meet the potential threat, according to the Post.

Police: Visitors should feel safe

U.S. Park Police officials, however, were quoted as saying that visitors should feel safe visiting Washington's monuments and memorials this Independence Day weekend.

"We've taken steps to ensure safety measures are in place to take care of any situation that may occur," Park Police Sgt. Rob MacLean told the Post.

Two years ago, police erected concrete barriers around the Washington Monument, which is set to reopen on July 31 following a major restoration project.

Monument held hostage

The idea of threatening a national monument to further a cause is not new. In December 1982, 66-year-old Norman D. Mayer, seeking a ban on nuclear weapons, held the Washington Monument hostage by threatening to destroy it with a van full of dynamite. After a ten-hour standoff, Mayer left the monument and tried to escape in his van. He was immediately shot and killed by police.

The Park Police radio communications system is about 20 years old, leaving officers vulnerable to major logistical trouble in an emergency. Radio frequencies used by Park Police are not secured, allowing possible terrorists to monitor officers' activities, the report said.

Doors to the monuments often were left unlocked or unguarded, the report said, and copies of keys to some of the doors may have been copied without authorization, according to the Post.

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