A bombing in Boston doesn’t necessarily equal terror in Atlanta but it did mean an extra hour of search duty for Axel.
The Dutch Shepherd mix was doing an extra hour of sniffing for bombs at the Five Points MARTA station Tuesday; a drain here, a trash can there.
Finally he laid down on the job and gazed out over Alabama Street. It was another uneventful day —as it had been for him and his two predecessors over 11 years that his K-9 handler Officer Tim Harkins has done bomb patrols.
The transit agency, schools and the state were on “a heightened state of alertness” — security jargon signifying the Boston Marathon bombing had got their attention — in case of a trend. Organizers for festivals and entertainment venues said the tragedy had prompted them to review security.
Some were pleased that MARTA had stepped up patrols.
“When things like that go on, it makes you think, it could happen here… so I might always have a slight paranoia about it,” said Tim Headley, 23, while commuting from Lakewood to his job in Dunwoody. “I’m about to get on a train. How do I know there is not a bomb on it?”
That’s the job for Axel and his 14 K-9 colleagues. They and their handlers normally patrol the stations for three hours during the morning commute and three hours during the evening but they upped it to four hours in response to two bombs killing three people and wounding others during the Patriot Day race.
Sgt. Aston Greene, Commander of Emergency Preparedness Unit at MARTA said that significant security detail was potentially inadequate. He pointed to a K-9 advertisement on a passing bus — “15 K-9 Officers Plus You.”
“That ‘plus you’ means we look to the riding public to be our eyes and ears,” said Greene, noting the cellphone “See Something/ Say Something” app that lets riders alert MARTA to suspicious backpacks, packages or other problems.
The Department of Homeland Security had not increased any threat levels but MARTA, which carries a high potential terrorism threat rating from DHS, still needed to have a “heightened state of alertness,” Greene said.
Many agencies reported being “alert” but not doing anything special. Some festival organizers in Midtown, Candler Park, Sandy Springs and Kennesaw — nearly 500,000 people are expected to attend gatherings this weekend — said they were adding security. Others along with some entertainment venues were confident measures were adequate.
“There’s no protection that’s foolproof,”said Jack Sias,director of the Georgia Renaissance Festival in Fairburn.
Local school district officials said they are on heightened alert but have not added security guards at schools. On Tuesday afternoon, Atlanta Police SWAT units responded to a suspicious but harmless package that security officers spotted under trash can at Turner Field.
Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, said he will meet with state public safety officials in the next few days. The state should review and beef up its security plans for large-scale public events like the AJC Peachtree Road Race and the St. Patrick’s Day festival in Savannah, said Powell, chairman of the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Ron Stephens, R. Savannah, said he worried more about other televised events.
“These crazy people want publicity,” said Stephens, chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee. “They’re going to be where all the cameras are. My bigger concern is going to be like areas like major stadiums or University of Georgia football games, that type of stuff where you have national television. “
Still, 26-year-old John Smiley suggested public officials not go overboard with suggestions that the Boston bombing was the forerunner of some future pattern of bombings. To him, the Boston bombing sounded more like a local nut than a new version of Al Qaeda in North America.
“I know they like anniversaries,” the Forest Park man said of the terrorist organization. “But they like big anniversaries, not Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts.”
Staff writers Daarel Burnette, Aaron Gould Sheinin, Christian Boone, Melissa Abbey, Greg Bluestein, Kristina Torres, Ernie Suggs and Kelly Yamanouchi contributed to this story
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