DALLAS, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The Secret Service told Dallas police to stop
screening for weapons while people were still arriving at a campaign
rally for Barack Obama, a report said.

Police stopped checking people for weapons at the front gates of
Reunion Arena more than an hour before the Democratic presidential
hopeful appeared on stage Wednesday, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-
Telegram reported.

Police said the order to stop using metal detectors and checking
purses and laptop bags constituted a security lapse, the newspaper
reported.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence -- who heads the department's
homeland security and special operations divisions -- told the Star-
Telegram the order had been intended to speed up seating of the more
than 17,000 people who came to hear the candidate speak.

Lawrence said he was concerned about the large number of people being
let in without being screened, but that the crowd seemed "friendly,"
the newspaper said.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/02/22/secret_service_says_obama_rally.../

Secret Service says Obama rally was secure
Feb. 22, 2008

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Secret Service Friday denied reports
that security measures at a recent Barack Obama rally in Texas were relaxed
or deviated from established plans.

Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said there was no order from the Secret
Service to stop screening people going to the Obama rally Wednesday at
Dallas's Reunion Arena. He said that the event's security plans didn't
involve having each participant pass through a magnetometer, as may be the
case at other events.

The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported that some police at the event
expressed concern about people not passing through metal detectors.

"Any allegations to the fact that we had suspended screening or deviated
from the original security plan would be entirely inaccurate," Zahren said.

Obama, D-Ill., spoke before some 17,000 supporters at the rally ahead of the
March 4 primary election in Texas. There were no security-related incidents.