Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. KennedyUnited States. Warren Commission
History
Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
Once the Trade Mart had been selected, Sorrels and Lawson worked out
detailed arrangements for security at the building. In addition to the
preventive measures already mentioned, they provided for controlling
access to the building, closing off and policing areas around it,
securing the roof and insuring the presence of numerous police
officers inside and around the building. Ultimately more than 200 law
enforcement officers, mainly Dallas police but including 8 Secret
Service agents, were deployed in and around the Trade Mart.[C2-30]
The Motorcade Route
On November 8, when Lawson was briefed on the itinerary for the trip to
Dallas, he was told that 45 minutes had been allotted for a motorcade
procession from Love Field to the luncheon site.[C2-31] Lawson was not
specifically instructed to select the parade route, but he understood
that this was one of his functions.[C2-32] Even before the Trade Mart
had been definitely selected, Lawson and Sorrels began to consider the
best motorcade route from Love Field to the Trade Mart. On November 14,
Lawson and Sorrels attended a meeting at Love Field and on their return
to Dallas drove over the route which Sorrels believed best suited for
the proposed motorcade.[C2-33] This route, eventually selected for the
motorcade from the airport to the Trade Mart, measured 10 miles and
could be driven easily within the allotted 45 minutes.[C2-34] From Love
Field the route passed through a portion of suburban Dallas, through
the downtown area along Main Street and then to the Trade Mart via
Stemmons Freeway. For the President’s return to Love Field following
the luncheon, the agents selected the most direct route, which was
approximately 4 miles.[C2-35]
After the selection of the Trade Mart as the luncheon site, Lawson
and Sorrels met with Dallas Chief of Police Jesse E. Curry, Assistant
Chief Charles Batchelor, Deputy Chief N. T. Fisher, and several other
command officers to discuss details of the motorcade and possible
routes.[C2-36] The route was further reviewed by Lawson and Sorrels
with Assistant Chief Batchelor and members of the local host committee
on November 15. The police officials agreed that the route recommended
by Sorrels was the proper one and did not express a belief that any
other route might be better.[C2-37] On November 18, Sorrels and Lawson
drove over the selected route with Batchelor and other police officers,
verifying that it could be traversed within 45 minutes. Representatives
of the local host committee and the White House staff were advised by
the Secret Service of the actual route on the afternoon of November
18.[C2-38]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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