Governor Deval Patrick took to ABC this morning to talk to “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos about security details pertaining to the 2014 Boston Marathon. As we can expect from 365 days of reflection of last year’s tragedy, security measures and amount of personnel surrounding the Marathon will be fortified.
There’s been significant chatter about the recent Boston Marathon bombing hearing in Washington D.C. that examined the intelligence and response of the FBI and constituent agencies leading up to last year’s 26.2 mile race and possible preventative measures that could’ve been taken.
But Governor Patrick is looking to this year and the preparations currently being undertaken to better reassure the public – runners, spectators, tourists and volunteers – of the utmost safety.
“I think we have struck an appropriate balance between having more law enforcement presence, but also assuring that it continues to be a family outing and a civic ritual,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “The planning has been very, very thorough. The teams are well coordinated. … We had a sort of table-top exercise, a practice session, a full day, a couple of weeks ago with there were 450 people in the room from every state, federal and local agency and municipal leadership, as well, for each of the cities and towns along the route.”
The Boston Athletic Association and Boston municipal officials have also released safety guidelines of their own. The big takeaways are: Be prepared to for a proliferation of uniformed and plain clothed officers and don’t carry any items in bags. If there are items you must take with you, try to carry them in pockets or in clear plastic bags.
“It’s obviously concerning that Russian intelligence was not responsive to questions asked by the FBI and by other United States intelligence agencies for a year or more. I knew this in the immediate aftermath, when we were getting this information,” continued the governor on the morning show. “Now the public knows it, as a result of the inspector general’s — inspectors general report.”
To plan your Marathon Monday accordingly, check out our comprehensive guide to the race.
