Boston Marathon 2016: Security Changes You Can't See All Around You

Boston, MA - In the aftermath of 2013, the Boston Marathon has amassed a large, multi-pronged security infrastructure, overseeing and securing the race through seen and unseen means.

“For spectators and runners, I don’t think they’re going to feel any difference. I don’t think they’re going to see any difference,” said Kurt Schwartz, director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. "The changes are things that people are not going to be aware of.”

They're subtle things, most of which Schwartz can't discuss for all the obvious reasons. At the core is the unfortunate truth that even though officials have identified no credible threat to this year's Boston Marathon, recent events make the world feel less safe today than in 2013.

• Everything You Need to Know About the 2016 Boston Marathon

Boston has experienced this threat firsthand before. In the intervening years it has developed a large, collaborative security infrastructure — both visible and behind-the-scenes — to keep runners, spectators and the community safe. Here's a look inside.

Planning Process

Planning for the 2016 race started immediately after the 2015 Marathon concluded, with a debriefing that identified what went well and what needed work. Schwartz's organization, MEMA, oversees the 60 organizations involved in the Marathon security effort, and provides overarching structure and communication.

On Nov. 1, 2015, MEMA and its local partners met with representatives from the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Department of Homeland Security for an initial threat assessment.

"We ask, 'What’s changing in the world right now that we should be thinking about?'" Schwartz said.

Less than two weeks later, that assessment radically changed with the terror attacks in Paris. The picture became more complex still when a couple in San Bernardino shot more than a dozen in December. Just last month, bombings in Brussels killed 32.

“The nature of the threats this year are different," Schwartz said. "They’re more complicated, in some ways potentially more lethal."

Behind the scenes, that means staging resources differently and altering how MEMA utilizes intelligence operatives. But to the public, Schwartz said, security will look the same as it has the past two years.

What It Looks Like

Here's what you'll see at this year's Boston Marathon: Security checkpoints, bomb-sniffing dogs, uniformed police officers, private security, fire officials and emergency management teams.

Here's what you probably won't notice: drone-sensing equipment attached with snaking wires to the tops of light poles, extra security cameras up and down the route, plain-clothes police officers roaming the crowd.

Here's what you definitely won't see: the more than 200 security personnel amassed in a Framingham bunker.

That Framingham hub represents the beating heart of the sprawling security operation — communication. It's where Schwartz will be come race day, and it's what helps manage a security infrastructure comprised of more than 50 local, regional and federal forces that sprawls across eight different municipalities.

That hub, referred to as the Multi-Agency Coordination Center, held roughly 75 people on Marathon day in 2013, Schwartz said. This year, there will be about 225 inside the bunker, managing a force of between 6,000 and 7,000 public safety officials and volunteers from 60 different organizations, according to Schwartz.

The public eye is trained on terror threats, but Schwartz is quick to note that all this infrastructure is also there to support the runners and the event itself. For example, a few degrees' difference in temperature can mean hundreds more in need of emergency medical attention.

"Don't forget the weather," Schwartz warns.

Show of Force

Here's another thing you won't see on Marathon Monday: AR-15's on the arms of police officers.

But should a show of force be necessary, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans assures, officers can be armed with the semi-automatic rifles "at a moment's notice."

Evans told reporters he doesn't want officers "scaring kids," but he also wants the public to know the BPD and its partners aren't going to be soft on security. It's a delicate balance to ensure the event remains a celebration for athletes, families and communities, rather than, as Evans has described it, "a police state."

Hence, much of the massive security infrastructure that's coalesced in the intervening years exists outside the public eye. Other parts are much more visible, and purposefully so.

“I expect that 1 million people are going to show up this year, and I expect every one of them wants to see a significant security operation, a significant police presence," Schwartz said.

Bostonians can look out into the world and worry, but also draw on their own memories of terror at home, he said. That means many want to go through bag checks and feel a sense of security.

“We are in an unfortunately unique situation here. The people who come out will always remember what happened here," Schwartz said. "This is not some distant threat or academic exercise.”

Schwartz himself was at the finish line in 2013. For him, and for many of the hundreds charged with securing the race this year, it's personal.

Public Outreach

Schwartz, Evans and every official who's addressed the media about Marathon security is fully aware that people are especially nervous this year. There have now been multiple press conferences and a media demonstration of a Multi-Agency Coordination Center drill, all with an eye to assuaging the public's fears, post-Brussels.

At a press conference Thursday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh drove that message home, explicitly mentioning the European terror attacks as he assured the public that officials are paying attention.

"I want to be clear, though," Walsh said. "At this time, there is no credible threat to the city and this event."

Evans had planned to run this year's Marathon, but cancelled those plans in light of the Brussels bombings. He told reporters he had been wishing 2016 could be the year security efforts scale back a bit.

"Obviously, this is not the year," he said.

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Images courtesy Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, and taken during training exercises and drills.