File photo
PROVINCETOWN – Provincetown Police advise that some of you may have noticed or heard about bomb detecting dogs working the area on Macmillan Pier around our fast ferry’s to Boston this past weekend.
Police Chief James Golden say that without any prior notice to the department, these federal assets just arrived on the pier and did their thing as part of port security for SAIL BOSTON 2017.
Taking cues from recent terror attacks across the globe, city, state and federal officials said they plan to ramp up security at this weekend’s Sail Boston event by increasing police presence, closing roads, setting up roadblocks and using heavy machine vehicles to block cars and trucks from entering areas where police predict a large number of spectators.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security rated Sail Boston a SEAR 1 security threat. For comparison, the Boston Marathon is ranked a SEAR 2. They are quick to point out that the ranking is not due to a specific threat.
As these commercial vessels enter the outer security ring, they are entering historic Boston Harbor, so this planned measure doesn’t come as a surprise…… But the Chief says that from the department’s standpoint a little multi-agency “heads up” would have been appreciated!
From June 17th to 22nd, the harbor will belong to the 50 ships from 13 countries, their crews, and the more than 4 million visitors who are expected to view them and stroll their historic decks.
This is not a permanent change and officials appreciate your patience while boarding.
Media release furnished by Provincetown Police
