TSA VIPR teams on patrol around the Boston Marathon. (LE/FAMS photo)
As Kenyan John Korir on April 21 became the second member of his family to win the Boston Marathon, members of the TSA family took to the streets around Beantown to make sure the runners and estimated half-million people who came to see the race were secure.
Who could forget the domestic terrorist attack that took place during the Boston Marathon in April 2013 when two brothers carried out the largest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, detonating two powerful explosives near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 500 others?
TSA and numerous partner agencies made sure that didn’t happen again by deploying hundreds of employees to support security efforts before and during the big, hours-long race.
TSA’s Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service (LE/FAMS) provided support with two Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams stationed near the racecourse and around surface transportation venues and the Athletes’ Village.
“This year, almost 32,000 runners were continuously transported on buses to the designated drop-off locations in and around the Athletes’ Village,” said Brian Soucy, Supervisory Federal Air Marshal from the LE/FAMS Boston Field Office. “The emcee of this year’s marathon referred to this area as a ‘constant sea of humanity,’ a truly accurate description for those who witnessed it.”
That’s the site where the runners gathered before making their way to the starting line for the 26.2-mile journey from Hopkinton to Boston. Soucy said he and his team also kept a close eye on a key Hopkinton bus stop due to the massive crowds.
“On a normal day, the bus stop on Hayden Rowe Street wouldn’t come to mind when you think about high-risk transportation targets, but that all changes on Marathon Monday, also known as Patriots’ Day,” Soucy noted. “The goal of the VIPR teams is to support existing security, provide enhanced detection capabilities, and increase the level of terrorism deterrence at this annual and prestigious SEAR 1 event.”
The Department of Homeland Security designated the Boston Marathon a Level 1 Special Event Assessment Rating event due to its national and/or international importance that requires extensive federal interagency support.
“For this year’s marathon, our VIPR teams worked with uniformed personnel from the Internal Revenue Service; Customs and Border Protection; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Federal Protective Service and others,” said Soucy. “It also provided them the chance to partner with officers from the Massachusetts State Police, Hopkinton Police Department and officers from over 30 other local cities who we’ve worked with during previous marathons.”
He emphasized, “All local, state, federal and military personnel who supported this year’s Boston Marathon shared the same responsibility – maintain public security.”
Supervisory Air Marshal in Charge David Bassett from the LE/FAMS Boston Field Office said the configuration of the marathon’s Athletes’ Village and surrounding modes of surface transportation is robust and deserves the bulk of the security attention.
“The yearly goal in deploying our VIPR operation near the marathon starting line has always been to support our stakeholders and federal, state and local law enforcement partners to ensure it is a hard target for anyone harboring hostile intent,” Bassett proclaimed. “The whole Boston Marathon is a patchwork of law enforcement partners playing different roles in different locations to ensure the security of all participants and providers. The Athletes’ Village, starting line, and nearby surface transportation venues were where our partners needed LE/FAMS VIPR support the most.”
TSA Special Events Coordinator Mariana Reed said TSA also increased transportation security officer staffing and deployed additional explosives detection canine teams at Boston Logan International Airport to accommodate the significant increase in passenger volume there.
All in all, this effort wasn’t a sprint but a marathon, with TSA and its many partner agencies working together for one common goal – sending everyone home safe and secure.
By Don Wagner, TSA Strategic Communications & Public Affairs