Secret Service considers screening tourists outside White House

Among the proposals after the embarrassing breach are keeping DC residents and tourists off the sidewalks around the White House fence and creating several yards of additional barrier around the perimeter. Another is to have tourists and visitors screened and checked as far as a block away from the area. All of the ideas are "notional at this point," said an official familiar with the talks. US Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has told President Barack Obama and his staff that she plans not only to order an internal review of how a man got into the front door of the White House without being stopped by Secret Service agents Friday evening, but also to take immediate steps to shore up security for the White House complex and the first family in the interim. Just after the president left on his Marine One helicopter Friday evening, Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, allegedly jumped over the White House fence, sprinted across the North Lawn and entered the North Portico, the front doors of the White House, officials said. He is expected to be charged Monday. Fence jumping has become more common, and at times has been an almost monthly occurrence in the Secret Service's duties. But Friday was the first time a fence jumper has gotten inside the executive residence. The New York Times first reported Sunday that the Secret Service was considering screening visitors' bags and ID farther away from the White House. The Secret Service and every presidential administration has struggled to strike this admittedly awkward balance of both open and secure. They have worked to keep the White House compound a "hard target" but also give the American people the feeling that it is "the people's house" and not an impenetrable fortress. The Secret Service has occasionally talked about fortifying the White House fence to keep out or discourage jumpers, and even to put barbed wire on the top. But that suggestion has been dismissed as giving the public the wrong impression of an open democracy and an accessible president. Friday's incident exposed numerous failings in the Secret Service's security system, despite its sophistication and intricacies. A canine that is trained to knock over any intruder whom officers cannot reach was not released in this case. Also Friday, the front door of the North Portico was unlocked, which is not often the case. The Secret Service praised officers for using restraint and not shooting at the suspect. The agency trains officers not to shoot at an intruder unless they fear the person is armed or possibly wearing a bomb. On Friday, intruder was considered a low risk. But in fact, he was carrying a small knife, Kazinform refers to Arabia News .