The Academy Awards ceremony Feb. 24 in Hollywood will have the tightest security ever in place for the event, officials say.
Oscars producer Laura Ziskin told ABC News: "It will be presidential, as if the president were there--presidential-level security. Security is, of course, a big issue, as it has been for every big event since 9/11, and I think is something that's going to be with us for the foreseeable future. There are tremendous measures in place, some of which you'll see and some of which you won't."
Those measures include shutting down streets around the Kodak Theater, and all those attending the ceremony, down to each and every glamorous star, will pass through metal detectors. There also will be as many police officers on the ground in the area at the time as normally patrol the entire city of Los Angeles, the ABC news report says.
Security at the Staples Center in L.A., where the Grammy Awards were held Feb. 10, was even more intense than that. That's because former L.A.P.D. Officer Christopher Dorner was still on the loose, according to a report from Robert Penfold, news correspondent for the Nine Network in Australia. Dorner had already killed three people and would kill one more before his suicide two days later. Police were concerned that he would use the high-publicity music awards event to get publicity for himself.
Grammy organizers brought in ballistic-rated Archer 1200 rapid deployment barriers to barricade a key entrance to the Staples Center, Penfold wrote. "The Archer 1200 is unique in that it can be quickly dropped into place by one person without the need for heavy lifting equipment. At the Grammys the Archer system was successfully used to block a main entrance street. Eight barriers, each with the capability of stopping a vehicle at top speed, were set side by side, but leaving enough room for pedestrians to move comfortably through while providing protection from vehicle traffic. In several cases where a truck or car needed to get into the secured area, one or more barriers could be quickly moved to one side and then returned, to once again secure the zone."
The portable vehicle barriers have been used to protect ports, dams, water treatment facilities and oil and gas operations, Penfold said.
Penfold's son, Alex Penfold, works for Meridian Rapid Defense Group, which produces the Archer barriers.