Security lapse during Obama speech concerns Dallas Police.

Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.

Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department's homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order -- apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service -- was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena's vacant seats before Obama came on.

"Sure," said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a "friendly crowd."

"Friendly crowd"? Need I remind everybody that Mark David Chapman asked John Lennon for his autograph right before he ended his life? I am sure he seemed friendly right up until he made his horrible decision.

Barack Obama is going to be he first black man elected to the highest office in the land. It is simply a given that there are racists who are beside themselves with anger at the very thought.

In a country where the people who best represent hope and peace are the most vulnerable to attacks (John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and of course John Lennon), we should quickly recognize that Obama is somebody who must have the very best protection that can be offered. He is the very manifestation of hope right now.

This is inexcusable and the people responsible should be removed from his security staff.