Physical Security – Security Trumps Transportation in Boston

National events nowadays demand preemptive security vigilance. For the Democratic National Convention, scheduled for July 26-29 in Boston, that means preventing an estimated 1 million interstate motorists and commuters from coming near the convention site.

The site for the expected 35,000 convention goers is the FleetCenter sports arena, also the location of the underground commuter rail hub North Station. The arena building also happens to sit within 100 feet

of the southbound lanes of Interstate

93 before it runs under downtown Boston. The station will close for a full week around the convention’s dates. The highway will shut down in the evening rush hour periods during the event, The Boston Globe reported.

Secret Service officials in charge of convention security say the closures are necessary. One source told The Globe that the rail station closing was mandatory after the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, Spain, which killed 200 people.

Area residents told the local media of planning vacations during the convention, or lightening workloads that week. Robert Hoffman, an IS manager from Nashua, N.H., took a fatalist view. He told The Globe he hoped to take a business trip when Democrats visit town and said if terrorists “wanted to do something bad, even with everything shutting down, they probably could.”