Crime & Safety

Security Is High for Academy Awards [Video]

Streets around Dolby Theatre are blocked off, with concrete barriers, high chain-link fences and LAPD officers controlling access.

Several hours before the first celebrities and stars arrived on the Red Carpet for the 2013 Academy Awards, the area surrounding the Dolby Theatre in downtown Hollywood was under a virtual lockdown Sunday morning.

Streets and sidewalks, usually teeming with tourists and locals, were cordoned off with concrete barriers, high chain-link fences and an army of Los Angeles Police Department officers limiting access.

The Hollywood & Highland Center, the mall where the Dolby Theatre is located, was closed for security reasons. Many other businesses in the immediate blocks along Hollywood Boulevard also did not open due to the limited access.

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In the streets leading to the drop-off for the Red Carpet, where show-goers will arrive via limousines, staggered concrete barriers required all vehicles to slow to a zig-zag, slalom-style, approach.

Pedestrians wanting to get within a block of the theater had to pass through checkpoints where Los Angeles Police Department officers searched their bags and used hand-held metal detectors.

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See the attached photos and video clips for more.


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