Security for Mandela Was Tight But Stealthy

Rule number one in the personal protection business: Do it loud and do it heavy, or do it soft and do it quick.

Security for Friday's special convocation involving Nelson R. Mandela seemed, according to many observers, to be rather light. But Mandela's bodyguards may merely have been observing that rule: It sometimes pays to be discreet and to be quick.

Whereas President Clinton's visit the evening before involved more than 200 security agents and a flashy 50 car cavalcade, Mandela was protected by just under three dozen federal, state and local officers.

For Clinton's visit, entire floors of the Boston Park Plaza Hotel were meticulously searched by specially trained Department of Defense technicians before anyone was allowed in the area.

Shortly before 3 p.m. Friday, more than 25,000 people streamed into Tercentenary Theatre, without so much as a blade of grass in the general seating area subject to security scrutiny.

So why the disparity?

Although the Secret Service is charged with protecting foreign dignitaries, the wishes of the leader in question are usually paramount.

And agents have learned that surprise and stealth are often two of the keys to a successful protective operation.

The only visible signs of security were metal barriers surrounding the stage, a handful of U.S. Secret Service agents, some Cambridge Police Department officers and Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) officers flanking the steps of Memorial Church.

But Mandela was far enough from the crowd to distract the aim of a potential assassin.

His entrance and egrees into Tercentenary Theatre were done without any line of sight to the public.

Mandela's motorcade was small--the trip from Boston's Logan International airport to Harvard Square took just over 12 minutes.

And agents strategically positioned themselves around the stage--in the line of fire.

At one point, a Secret Service agent surveying the scene from the stage noticed several windows open on the third floor of Sever Hall.

After conferring with HUPD officers, those windows were shut tight--a sign that despite appearances, vigilant bodyguards took their task seriously.