Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins both canceled home games last Friday as Boston and several suburbs went into lockdown because of the manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, Mass.
Editor's note: This is the fourth story in a four-part series focused on ballpark security following the recent Boston Marathon bombings. These stories are meant to inform readers on the mechanisms in place to keep ballparks safe and how different threats can be addressed. They are not intended to raise alarm about or discourage fans from attending baseball games or other sporting events.
BOSTON — A week ago today, the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins both canceled home games, as Boston and several suburbs went into lockdown because of the manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, Mass.
The Red Sox officially called off their game at 3 p.m., waiting until about four hours before first pitch to be sure they were in lockstep with police and other authorities.
"We just wanted to be completely in sync with the federal and local and agencies that we we're in touch with and the state agencies so we didn't want to get out of step with anyone," Red Sox chief operating officer Sam Kennedy said. "We wanted to make sure we were following the lead of our public, the elected officials and the law enforcement officials. We just worked through them. They were in communication throughout the day and early afternoon."
Venue security experts say a strong working relationship between the venue and the local authorities is key in case of emergency, and in prevention of one.
Kevin Mattingly, deputy director of operations at the Phoenix Convention and a former deputy police chief in Arizona, said there are certainly occasions that arise in the industry where venue managers are left wishing they had more information.
"The need-to-know threshold — I understand, I get the need to know threshold," he said. "But I know that venue operators sometimes feel like that threshold might be a bit too high."
Kennedy said that kind of issue has not arisen. The club's director of security, Charles Cellucci, spent more than 30 years with the Boston Police Department, and that's only been a boon to the team's relationship with authorities. On a normal day Cellucci is briefed by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center twice a day.
"It's been unbelievable," Kennedy said. "I don't know, this may be unique to Boston — commissioner Ed Davis and (Boston Police Department superintendent William) Evans and all the Boston PD are incredible. Extremely helpful with information and with procedures and it helps that Charlie Cellucci has a great relationship having worked there his entire career. So there's a very good working relationship in the spirit of teamwork. It's something that obviously you can tell by the steps we take, we take very, very seriously."
On the day of the Watertown manhunt, the Red Sox were not only in touch with authorities and the BRIC, but the Bruins as well. Both teams had to figure just what the lockdown meant for their games, employees, players and fans.
Red Sox president Larry Lucchino and Bruins president Cam Neely were in communication. Charlie Jacobs, a principal of Delaware North Companies and the Bruins, was in contact with the Sox as well.
"We were actually on a call with the Bruins as well as some of the public officials and we all wanted to be coordinated," Kennedy said. "It's definitely unprecedented territory for all of us. But I'll tell you that I don't know that would happen in every city where everyone is really looking out for each other and in sync with each other. The Bruins were so classy. They called me, (Bruins senior vice president of sales and marketing) Amy Latimer called me early Friday. Cam Neely and Larry Lucchino were talking throughout the day. And we just wanted to make sure that we were doing the same thing, and I don't know that that happens in other markets. It was pretty cool."
Lucchino said the communication wasn't limited to Friday, but went on throughout the week as well.
"In the days that followed the Marathon bombings, the Red Sox were in regular communication with local police and security officials," Lucchino said. "Those discussions focused on the safety of our facilities and the scheduling of events following the atrocity, among other things. We were also in contact with Mayor Menino and his office. During that time, we reached out to Charlie Jacobs and Cam Neely at the Bruins to share information and to coordinate our rescheduling responses. Throughout the entire security review and rescheduling process, we encountered nothing but openness, responsiveness, concern and collaboration from elected officials like the mayor, security personnel on all levels, and from our colleagues at the Bruins and throughout sports."
Follow MassLive.com Red Sox beat writer @EvanDrellich on Twitter. He can be reached by email at evan.drellich@masslive.com.