November 07, 2024
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Attacks heighten vigilance in Maine

State and local officials are taking added precautions in the wake of Thursday’s bombings in London, although there has been nothing to indicate similar attacks are intended for Maine.

“There’s no information to suggest that we’re at a substantial risk,” Bangor Police Chief Don Winslow said he was told in telephone conferences with state emergency management officials Thursday morning. Winslow has asked police officers in his department to monitor “sensitive” operations and facilities in the city as well as to watch for anyone or anything suspicious.

Looking for things that are out of the ordinary is what the police do every day, but Winslow said it takes on an increased sense of immediacy and importance in light of what happened in London.

“Under situations like this, you start looking at things differently again,” Winslow said.

Describing his department as being in “precautionary mode,” Winslow said officers haven’t been complacent in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on American soil. He said the London attack “serves as a reminder that we can’t let our guard down.”

Elsewhere in Maine, authorities were tempering concerns about the deadly attacks with the realism of the increased alertness that has become a part of life since the attacks in this country.

“It’s a time for vigilance, it’s a time for caution, but as the governor said, it’s not a time to be anxious about going about our daily lives,” Lynn Kippax, spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci, said Thursday.

Secured in the state’s emergency operations center in Augusta, Baldacci and state emergency management officials spoke Thursday morning by conference telephone calls with officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other states.

Federal authorities raised the security threat level from Code Yellow, elevated, to Code Orange, high, for mass transit operations such as trains and buses, but stopped short of instituting it across the board. In Maine, the impact was expected to be minimal, limited to Amtrak passenger rail service from Boston to Portland and bus services.

Arthur Brountas, a manager with The Bus Terminal which serves Greyhound and other bus operations in Bangor, said early Thursday evening that they had not yet been notified about any change in the threat level. Bangor police officials had contacted the terminal, as well as Concord Trailways and the area bus service, The BAT, about increased attention to suspicious packages and people.

At the bus terminal, Brountas said employees will continue to identify passengers and make sure packages or baggage are not left unattended. Diligence also requires that terminal officials check packages from customers they aren’t familiar with, he said.

The increase in the threat warning level doesn’t affect Bangor International Airport although Winslow said an extra police officer has been added to patrol the airport, at least for now. Federal officials responsible for checking baggage and customs inspections also will remain on alert, a spokeswoman for the Customs and Border Protection Agency said.

“Our Customs and Border Protection officers continue to operate with increased vigilance under the national threat condition yellow – elevated – at our land borders, seaports and airports,” said Janet Rapaport, spokeswoman for the CBP.

Those watching Maine’s Canadian border, all 611 miles of it between ports of entry, are also on alert.

“We will continue to be ever vigilant along the border,” said Roland Richardson, assistant chief patrol agent with the U.S. Border Patrol in Houlton.

The attacks in London meant increased communications at Maine’s National Guard facilities, but didn’t prompt any formal changes in security, according to officials.

The Air National Guard Base in Bangor, which serves as the home for the 101st Air Refueling Wing, remained at force protection condition Alpha, one step above normal, the same as it has been for quite a while, said Maj. Debbie Kelley, community manager for the 101st ARW.

BDN writer Renee Ordway contributed to this report.


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