Capitol police to change policies after toy gun incident

Nov 6, 2003 12:00 PM

After a toy gun made it through a security checkpoint last week at the U.S. Capitol, the chief of the Capitol Hill police says he will revamp screening procedures to enter the building.

Chief Terrance Gainer told The Washington Post that his security personnel will take cues from airport security screeners and slow down passage through X-ray machine posts.

Gainer acknowledged the incident exposed serious security gaps and communication failures in his police force and he promised to improve the building's protection.

He said more than 200 of his supervisors would attend a weekend work session to analyze what went wrong when a Halloween prop, a fast X-ray machine belt and a distracted officer combined to shut down the House of Representatives.

Two House staffers caused an alarm by bringing a toy gun in a package through a Cannon House Office Building X-ray machine. The two women picked up the package and left before an officer, distracted by a question from an onlooker, recognized the apparent firearm inside. By that time, the women had disappeared.

Gainer says the firearm's silhouette was clearly visible on the X-ray machine, but the officer was distracted.

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