Security Beefed Up Worldwide After Blasts

Police in Los Angeles, New York City, London and other cities worldwide stepped up security Monday following explosions in Boston.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Andrew Neiman said the department was urging officers to be extra vigilant around large crowds and would increase security at sporting events.

The department was also activating its emergency operations center to increase communications, and increasing patrols for transit and other critical areas, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

Police in Washington, San Diego, Las Vegas and Atlanta were monitoring events closely and assessing potential increases in security measures. Agencies were also stepping up online awareness, telling the public to report suspicious activity to the police.

Chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Monday that critical response teams were deployed around the city, and officials were stepping up security at hotels and other high-profile locations.

Police at three major Los Angeles  airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, were in a “heightened state of vigilance,” with increased patrols to make it visible that more police were on duty Monday, said Chief of Airport Police Patrick Gannon.

“We have no indications that suggest there’s a nexus from Boston to the Los Angeles airport, but in an overabundance of caution, we have heightened our patrols,” Gannon said.

British police also said they were reviewing security plans for Sunday’s London Marathon. It’s the next major international marathon. A London Metropolitan Police spokesman said police are working with marathon officials to review security plans with an eye toward establishing a larger security presence.

On Monday, California emergency management officials activated their statewide threat assessment system, which was established following the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center terror attack.

Officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Sacramento were reviewing information from federal authorities for possible threats, said Kelly Huston, assistant secretary of the California Emergency Management System.

This article appeared in print on page 3 of the April 16th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.