President's visit comes with tight security
By Peter Boylan and Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writers
Security for President Bush's island stop yesterday was the tightest of any presidential visit that Honolulu Police Department officials can remember.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
The stepped-up efforts are the result of a request from the Secret Service for increased local assistance in ensuring the president's safety, HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said.
A police officer pats down a man who had been waiting outside the Arizona Memorial Visitors Center before the presidential motorcade drove past.
"Security evolves," said Samuel Tong, the Hawai'i assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service, which took the lead in coordinating federal, state and local law enforcement officials. "Since 9-11 there have been new types of security enhancements that have taken place."
Tong said agents from the Honolulu field office aided the president's detail with advance work and security while the president was here.
The planning began months ago, said U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo.
It included Gov. Linda Lingle's security detail, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard police — including some who patrolled Pearl Harbor in a boat during President Bush's visit to the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri.
During a visit to Pearl Harbor Elementary School, sharpshooters with binoculars and high-powered rifles patrolled the rooftops.
"It's so unfortunate that these days and times call for additional security like that," said Kubo, who rode in a blue sedan in the third vehicle behind the president along with the secret service.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Honolulu Police Department contributed more than 100 officers to provide security and traffic assistance for the president.
Security was tight at Pearl Harbor Elementary School during President Bush's visit there.
Along the route to the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hawaii Hotel, motorcycle officers and marked police cars blocked on-ramps and overpasses, causing some drivers to get out, stop the car, and wave at the motorcade as it zipped down H-1.
In the 'ewa-bound direction, people were stopping and waving.
Hundreds of people lined up in parking lots around Kahala Mall, with police all around the area. Patrons at the Zippy's on Hunakai Street lined the windows facing Wai'alae Avenue hoping to steal a peek of the president as his motorcade drove past.
At the hotel, HPD officers patrolled the beach, but guests mingled freely after the president arrived. Police, Secret Service and hotel security turned away cars at the entrance of the turnaround in front of the Kahala Mandarin's main lobby.
A Coast Guard cutter idled in the surf just off shore.
The Federal Aviation Administration imposed temporary flight restrictions within a 10-mile radius of the president.
"Any aircraft, at all, period, is prohibited from flying in that airspace," Donn Walker, FAA spokesman.
The prohibition did not apply to military, law enforcement, or emergency medical aircraft. There was no disruption of scheduled commercial aircraft service to the islands.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com Reach Dan Nakaso 525-8085 or dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com
