City Summer Festivals Concern Police, Organizers

When it comes to Market Square Day in June Barbara Massar knows it will bring thousands of people downtown as it has for the past 34 years, but as the city nears the beginning of its summer festival season, the Boston Marathon bombings are cause for concern.

Massar, who serves as the executive director of Pro Portsmouth, understands the risk that comes with staging large-scale public events like Market Square Day. "I've worried about that even before 9-11," she said.

She said that whenever she stages an event that draws so many people into the city, she often doesn't breathe a sigh of relief until it reaches the end and the folks head home. Despite the recent Boston Marathon bombings, Massar doesn't anticipate she or the city will be doing anything that different from what they have done in they past.

The Boston Marathon bombings are also on the minds of Redhook Ale Brewery officials at Pease International Tradeport. The brewery holds its share of large-scale public evens at its facility. Ted Lane, a Redhook Ale Brewery spokesman, issued the following statement:

The safety of our employees and customers is our top priority. We employ private security services and local police for all events at the brewery and will look to the local authorities for recommendations on any heightened security measures they deem necessary.

Attempts to get comment about this issue from the Prescott Park Arts Festival and the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce on Monday were unsuccessful.

Regardless if the event is Market Square Day, the Fourth of July fireworks over South Mill Pond, the Prescott Park Arts Festival or the Portsmouth Criterium, Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen DuBois said his department has always maintained a strong police presence and has detailed security plans to keep people safe.

He said the city always has meetings before the summer festival season begins to review what they have in place so they can improve any areas where necessary. DuBois believes that when those meetings take place this spring, the Boston Marathon bombings will undoubtedly be part of the conversation.

If the police department does do anything differently than in years past, DuBois said, “It wouldn’t be anything reactionary to what happened in Boston.”

One lesson that was learned from the Boston Marathon bombings is that the public played a key role in supplying the Boston Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with thousands of photographs and videos shot during the bombings that helped authorities locate the two terrorist suspects.

DuBois said the public will continue to play a role in helping the Portsmouth Police Department keep the city safe during large scale events or on any given day.

"I've always been a big fan of see something, say something," DuBois said. "No matter how many police officers I put out there, they can't be everywhere at any given moment."

DuBois expects that the police department may receive more calls from members of the public when they attend the summer festivals if they see anything suspicious like they did during the weeks that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Anthrax scare.

In the meantime, DuBois said the police department and city officials will look at their current plans to see if any changes are needed just as they have every year.

“We are always reviewing and reevaluating our plans to see what we can do better,” DuBois said.