RSS Feed"Police Escorts Gone Wild" In Gallery Place
Up 7th St, down 9th St, up 7th St, down 9th St. You’d be surprised how many different sounds a police car siren could make. It’s like listening to a weird 80’s style arcade game theme song some times.
Police have been escorting shuttle buses to/from the convention center as early as 7am and as late as midnight – sometimes as frequently as every 10 minutes.
But we can take comfort in knowing that today is the last day of the police escorts and that life will soon return to the normal background noise. You know, when you only hear sirens when there is an actual emergency.
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I noticed that yesterday afternoon walking home from Whole Foods. What the heck was going on?? (Wasn’t it the Washington Home & Garden Show? Maybe the top horticulturists of the world need police escorts b/c they are mobbed by fans everywhere they go.)
I definitely heard them, too. What was going on at the convention center? Why did they have to have the sirens on? I thought that there was some sort of terrorist attack.
It is definitely for the AIPAC conference, they have the same level of security every year. I think it’s more to stoke the egos of the attendees, who have payed through the nose to be there, than out of any real threat.
Right, Vice President Dick Cheney, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, House Republican Leader John Boehner, and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, among others, warrant security only to stoke their egos.
I’m surprised that there are escorts in a neighborhood halfway between the White House and Capitol Hill. Must be a bad location. 😉
Anon: Funny you mention that. I hear that there is supposed to be some dominatrix establishment that operates in “suite 207” of a Penn Quarter building. It’s referenced here. 
No, the buses aren’t for the speakers. They take AIPAC convention-goers to and from their hotels. And every one of them gets an escort.
Honestly, I have know idea whether they need that kind of security or not. But as someone who lives two blocks from the convention center, I’m certainly tired of all the sirens.
GPliving: that post was fabulous! I’ve never run across this mad cabbie, but want to know where suite 207 is! Could it be that building at 8th & D? Sounds like the right tenants, but there’s lots of buildings like that in Chinatown, too.
well it wasnt over yesterday & this morning I watched with my mouth open as the police escorted buses drove in literally EVERY direction. Really. at 10th & K one bus went north while another went south. They drove on the wrong side of the street while they stopped traffic. Are DC Taxpayers paying for this??!!
Not to get political, but I am dissappointed AIPAC attendees need a police escort. I can only imagine that there have been threats against them so they are justified. The good news is that AIPAC attendees spend a lot of money in the District. Now if there was finally a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, this might not be necessary–a guy can dream….
si: Yeah, maybe *today* is the last day. I saw two buses go up 7th and then 5 seconds later, another three going west on H this morning.
It’s just more reason to build a convention center hotel. Then people could just walk across the street to a hotel, rather than being bused across town.
Anon: Just to play devil’s advocate, I’d say that it is possible the police escorts are not for security. Rather, they may function as a way to quickly get the buses across town (running red lights).
The convention center has come under criticism for not having a hotel nearby, and that normal shuttle buses are not helping matters.
From the WaPo:
Similarly, meeting planners complain when conventioneers have to get to their meetings from hotels scattered around the city. Last fall, the Washington convention center hosted 14,400 professionals and their families for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The group said that it got good customer service.
But Sondra Biggs, the group’s meeting planner, said the group used 28 hotels and spent $280,000 running shuttle buses every 15 minutes from the convention center. “If there was a hotel right across the street,” said Biggs, “it would be ideal.”
Maybe police escorts were a way for the city to satisfy the common complaint.
I do agree that a hotel connected to the convention site would be beneficial, but police escorted buses is a bit much.
Personally, I have attended conventions in various cities and more often than none, my hotel was not directly across the street. This is the first time I have ever witnessed police escorts.
The other day, the police escorted 1 full bus and one empty bus. Who was being protected in the empty bus.
Yes, I do hope that we are not paying for this service. It is absolutely absurd.
Can’t these people walk a few blocks?
For those who are still curious on the topic, I e-mailed the press folks at AIPAC. Here is what he said about the escorts (with a clarification that I am putting in parentheses):
It is for security reasons.
The conference is a 6000 person event, and the buses are moving convention attendees around.
Unfortunately, today’s environment requires increased vigilance to keep people protected. (I didn’t mean regular crime… I didn’t want to say terrorism because its such an abhorent thought, but unfortunately these kinds of precations are neccessary in these times.)
I am sorry if it has been a bother. On a positive note, the conference is over today.”
Joshua S. Block
AIPAC
Director, Media Affairs
Slate had an Explainer article on the use of police escorts that indicates the person requesting the escort typically pays for it. The article is available at http://www.slate.com/id/2140926/
I was at 7th and D St when I saw 2 buses coming with police escort. The interesting thing is that I could see through the window and didn’t see anyone on either bus. Either the buses were empty or the passengers were ducking.
Thank god its over…how annoying! I”m within earshot of the sirens both at home and at work, so I had no escape.
Speaking of the sirens, the cops and EMTs in DC have GOT to stop playing with the switches. Just let the siren do its thing. No need to keep flipping it on and off. It sounds like shit, and annoys everyone. It certainly doesn’t make cars get out of the way any faster either. In fact, the next time I hear a cop behind me doing it, I think I’ll stay in his way on purpose.
Amataurs!
Well, I don’t even think the sirens in DC have to be that loud anyway. I’ve lived in other cities, and they are doing just fine with theirs. In addition to the sirens being too loud, they don’t even sound right. Off and on and they go, and then they play with the switches. I would think that they could turn the volume down, keep it fully on for the duration of their emergency travel, and accomplish the same mission in an emergency.
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my man & I were ruminating this morning..this is how music will sound in 100 yrs – according to bill & ted