"This is tantamount to martial law," he said. "A lot of people are wondering out loud whether this would have been approached the same way if this was a white-run city."
Ron Walters, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland and a student of racial politics in the District, said such sentiments aren't surprising.
Police stop vehicles near the Capitol, whose police chief, Terrance W. Gainer, said of the tighter security: "It's expensive, it's inconvenient, but it's safe."
(Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
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Security Checks Ordered Near Federal Reserve (The Washington Post, Aug 5, 2004)
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"All this . . . is to some extent a reminder that blacks feel that, while whites of some status will be given a pass, the people who will be stopped and harassed are people of color," he said.
Federal officials have said that the new measures are needed to protect residents in light of recent information that terrorists might be targeting financial institutions in Washington and elsewhere and because intelligence assessments suggest that the Capitol remains a likely target of attack.
"It's expensive, it's inconvenient, but it's safe," said Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer, who issued the order to block First Street. "You put your seat belt on. It's less comfortable, but it's safer. You lock your door before you leave the house because you don't want to get burglarized. We're trying to maximize safety."
As Laticha Romeo waited for a bus to take her from one job at a Popeye's near the Capitol to another at the Navy Yard, she said the new checkpoints make sense. "You never know if it could happen today or tomorrow," said Romeo, 27. "I think they did what they thought was best."
Capitol Hill resident Malien Lane, 20, said she has seen slayings in her neighborhood and has been robbed at gunpoint, so the heavily armed police officers don't make her feel more edgy or safe. "It bothers my friends but not me," Lane said.
Gerard Jacobs, director of the Disaster Mental Health Institution at the University of South Dakota, said residents will become inured to the extra security measures, just as citizens of other countries have.
"It's easier to deal with if people keep in mind that these efforts are being made for their safety," he said.
It's also easier if you don't have to live with it. Tourists wandering the Capitol yesterday said they had no problem with the added security. Robbie Williams, a 35-year-old Los Angeles resident, and his two sons played "find the sniper," scanning rooftops in the hope of spotting armed law enforcement officers.
"It makes me feel comfortable to know that everything is being checked," he said.
But highly visible security can have a detrimental effect for those who must live with it day to day, according to some experts. Rather than make some people feel safer, it can make them feel as though they live in the center of a bull's-eye.
"We can create a neo-medieval society that will profoundly affect our economy, our politics and society itself," said Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert and senior adviser at the Rand Corp., a nonprofit think tank. "But we are bordering on creating an atmosphere of terror without the benefit of terrorists."
Exactly how many security checkpoints or how big a police presence it takes to provoke this kind of reaction is unclear, experts said.
"But there's a point at which all this extra security makes people feel less secure, because it reinforces the sense that we are not in a safe place, that we are targets and victims," said Anie Kalayjian, a professor of psychology at Fordham University and author of "Disaster and Mass Trauma."
For Deat LaCour, an organizational consultant, the District may have already reached that point. With signs posting the threat level and intercom reminders telling Metro passengers to watch for suspicious people and packages, the District is "no longer the same place it was."
"The general environment is hostile," said LaCour, 36, as he waited for a fish dinner at Kenny's BBQ on Maryland Avenue NE. "People, whether they know it or not, are on guard."
Jean Claude LeLen, who lives on G Street NE, agreed.
"I think the terrorists are winning," said LeLen, 45. "Liberty should be doing whatever you want, whenever you want."
Staff writers Sari Horwitz and Arielle Levin Becker contributed to this report.
