Proud moment: Du Quoin officer assigned to Obama inaugural

Master Sergeant Howard Baxter of the Illinois State Police Dist. 13 command at Du Quoin will remember President Obama's second inaugural. He was there as part of a contingent of 2,000 officers representing 40 states assigned to the inaugural's security detail.

Baxter, 43 of Du Quoin and a 14-year career officer in the Illinois State Police, was one of 40 Illinois State Police officers who participated.

He was assigned to the parade route between the Capitol and the White House after the inaugural. "This was my first time and it's enough to take your breath away," he said.

"They don't ask everyone. I'm in the state police honor guard and that helps," he said. Baxter was deputized as a U.S. Marshal, having the same security powers as the Secret Service or the Washington D.C. Police Department. The detail began their work at 4 a.m. on Monday and it ran through 7 p.m. that night. "It was a long day."

His powers as a U.S. Marshal expired at midnight.

Master Sgt. Baxter left for Washington on Saturday.

Before signing on with the Illinois State Police, he was part of a local Carbondale security detail to President Bill Clinton's visit to Southern Illinois in 1994.

Four years ago, law enforcement officials overseeing President Obama's first inauguration were concerned primarily with keeping the new president safe amid rising threats and nearly 2 million spectators packing the Mall.

This year, the conversation turned largely to balancing the need for a heavy police presence with ensuring that the crowd got where it needed to go - and had fun - even if people had to be scanned airport-style to reach the parade route.

For the 2009 inauguration, the Secret Service ordered five extra tons of bulletproof glass, its largest-ever order of ''transparent armor,'' as preparation for possible danger.

Starting Sunday and running nonstop through 7 p.m. Tuesday, representatives from 42 agencies - mostly police and military, but also from public works and state highway agencies in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland - camped out to watch over festivities and coordinate responses to threats, emergencies, water main breaks, and traffic accidents.

They worked in front of detailed digital maps of the U.S. Capitol grounds positioned in front of an arena-like room, along with live feeds from thousands of traffic and surveillance cameras.

Police closed a troublesome tunnel that kept many from seeing the inauguration in 2009.

Despite the chill, thermoses were prohibited on the parade route, for example, and strollers were not allowed for those with tickets on the Capitol grounds.

D.C. police - with about 3,900 officers - deputized more than 2,000 from 40 states to help with security.

The National Guard deployed more than 6,000 soldiers and airmen. Another 2,000 were stationed just outside the city.