BOSTON — The terrorist attack that killed at least 15 people and injured dozens of others during a New Year’s celebration in New Orleans is bringing attention to the security planning for large events in Boston.
The suspect, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is accused of driving a truck into a crowd in New Orleans’ French Quarter around 3:15 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
Authorities said mechanical barricades that had been installed around Bourbon Street were not functioning and were being repaired ahead of the Super Bowl in February.
Police cars and other barriers were placed on parts of Bourbon Street in their place.
Boston 25′s Security Analyst Dan Linskey is pointing out some key differences in Boston’s approach to keeping vehicles away from crowds.
“If you could not secure it with one vehicle, you need to make sure that there’s no ability to go around a vehicle. Wooden barriers are not going to do that,” said Linskey.
Linskey, who’s the former superintendent-in-chief of the Boston Police Department, said law enforcement agencies across the Boston area are scrutinizing and improving security plans on a regular basis to address every possible scenario.
He said authorities are routinely enhancing how, where, and when barriers are laid out to keep vehicles away from crowds and training officers in behavioral detection analysis.
“It’s not about having a perfect plan. It’s about having a planning process that can adapt to whatever situation might come your way as you’re trying to implement that plan,” he said.
He said those adapting plans involving multiple agencies sometimes happen with little to no notice, including events like marching protests.
“We had Boston Police working with the Boston Public Works Department vehicles. They were paralleling streets and making sure while the protest group was moving, there was no vehicle access to that,” explained Linskey.
The terrorist attack in New Orleans is highlighting how often that additional prevention is happening in Boston, at events both large and small.
“Not only do we use multiple jurisdictions for law enforcement. We use multiple departments. The city of Boston and other hosting cities will sometimes deploy DPW vehicles to block off roads. We didn’t see that in New Orleans,” said law enforcement and security expert Todd McGhee.
McGhee said the time that the truck rammed into the crowd on Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m. also shows how tough these types of attacks are to predict and plan for.
“I’d like to think if anything bad was going to happen, it’d be right at the height of midnight. Right when the clock strikes. Someone looking for that extra media attention and to get their grievance out to the world,” he added.
Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies warned police around the country that low-tech vehicle ramming was a key area of concern in the weeks leading up to the holidays.
A joint intel bulletin told police that they needed to prepare and remain vigilant.
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