White House fence to be topped with steel spikes to deter jumpers

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- Steel spikes will be added to the top of the White House fence to deter jumpers until a more permanent solution is put into place, the U.S. Secret Service and National Park Service said Friday.

The 7 1/4-inch tall spikes will include half-inch steel pencil-point tips. They will stick out several inches to create an angle and a second layer of spikes on the existing iron fence top. The National Capitol Planning Commission gave the green light to the plans Thursday, allowing the Secret Service to move forward with installation.

"The current fence is a measure that was useful for a bygone era," said Tom Dougherty, the Secret Service's chief strategy officer. "It has been breached many times."

Construction on the improvements will begin in July and will take about four weeks. At the same time, officials will look into a more permanent fix, which is expected to be implemented by next year.

Other security-related construction is ongoing at the 17-acre White House campus. That includes reworking several vehicle checkpoints with new officer booths and replacing concrete barriers with steel-plate barriers.

Security at and around the White House was ramped up some 20 years ago, after the Oklahoma City bombing and again after the 9/11 attacks. Despite that, several jumpers have scaled the fence, including an armed man who jumped the fence and made it inside the White House last September. The man, Omar J. Gonzalez, had a knife and made it inside a reception parlor.