Barricades Return to Capitol Hill
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Just days after the terror threat in Washington was lowered and the barricades removed, the checkpoints are now back up on Capitol Hill (search).
U.S. Capitol Police (search) officer Michael Lauer said they'll be up on a random basis. And for now, officers are back on 12-hour shifts, six-days a week, although Lauer added no new threats have been made against the Capitol.
District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton criticized the return of checkpoints, as did Mayor Anthony Williams (search). Norton said it would be better to abolish the checkpoints and instead randomly stop cars -- to keep a terrorist guessing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, speaking from Los Angeles, said he wonders why the Capitol Police took the barricades down in the first place. District officials suspect security is tighter because Congress is back in session. Ramsey said he expects the checkpoints will cause traffic backups.
The threat level around the World Bank (search) and International Monetary Fund (search) in Washington was raised to orange, or high, in August and lowered last week to yellow, or elevated. Security around Capitol Hill also was tightened during the orange alert.