Unprecedented Public Safety Plan for Obama Inauguration

In addition to vehicular restrictions, the U.S. Coast Guard will have enhanced patrols of the waterways and the military will patrol restricted airspace.

With the Capitol in the background, a worker paints the center stand of the inaugural platform at the west front of the Capitol in Washington, on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, as preparation continues for Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009.

(Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)

There will be a display of uniforms and also undercover cops posing as tourists on the mall.

Eight thousand police -- 4,000 from the D.C. Metro Police Department and 4,000 from 96 other departments around the country -- will join an unspecified number of federal agents from the FBI, Secret Service and other agencies.

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Also on hand will be 11,000 military personnel, including fighter jet squadrons and units specializing in responding to biological, radiological and chemical attacks.

All kinds of sensors will be deployed looking for any hint of an attack. Satellites will also be used. Washington police have also been adding more security surveillance cameras.

Officials are pulling out all the stops in part because of the inauguration's historic nature and the expected unprecedented crowd. Of great concern is the sheer -- likely unheard of -- concentration of people. Estimates vary, but some officials believe there will be more than 2 million people packed on the National Mall.