No 'Specific, Credible Threat' Against NYC Marathon, Police Say

NEW YORK CITY — There is "no specific, credible threat" against this weekend's New York City Marathon, NYPD officials say — but police will still use cameras, vapor detection dogs and thousands of officers to secure the race.

The NYPD will implement a "layered" approach to security at Sunday's event, said John Miller, NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

That approach involves blocking off the course's perimeter with hundreds of cars, using bomb squad and radiation detection teams, setting up over 600 cameras along the route, and using dogs to scan the area for suspicious packages and explosives moving through the crowd.

"This is a layered approach that we begin the season with, with the marathon, that carries through to the Thanksgiving parade, the lighting of the Christmas Tree, New Year’s Eve," Miller said at a news conference Wednesday. "It is a package from a dedicated team that is used to securing these events."

"Thousands and thousands" of officers will be stationed along the marathon — which starts in Staten Island and winds through all five boroughs before ending in Central Park — Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said.

Shea also said the number of officers who are on unpaid leave after refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 is "negligible" and will not affect the department's ability to monitor the race.

Only 33,000 athletes will run this year, marathon officials said, all of whom will need to prove vaccination status or have a recent negative COVID-19 test.

But a smaller competitor field will not mean a smaller amount of resources, Miller said.

"From our standpoint, it's still a 26.2-mile route, so the resources are going to be the same," Miller said. "We may be protecting less runners, but we’re protecting an event of the same scope and size."

To prepare for the race, Miller said the NYPD held a "tabletop exercise," in which officials proposed situations from "every category of possible scenarios, from natural disasters to accidents to different modes of attacks and mayhem" to test officers' responses.

"We're hoping that every runner feels they're ready for the race," Miller said. "But we know we are."