Sheriff Bouchard: We live in an open society, soft targets are inevitable

By JOHN TURK
Of The Oakland Press

FILE: Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard

America?s openness is the very sad, but very great thing about our society, said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

However, ?that openness leaves soft targets and vulnerability,? Bouchard said.

?Whenever there are public events going on in the county ? for example at the Woodward Dream Cruise ? there are a great deal of resources that are staged, but not in the open.?

For extremely large events that cover a wide area, such as the Boston Marathon, it makes for a softer target, he said.

The first priority during an incident like Monday?s deadly explosion is to clear people from the area, because ?it?s a fairly common (occurrence), that often times, there?s a secondary explosion ... intended to get the first responders.?

Post-Sept. 11, Bouchard said he expanded his canine unit to include explosive-detection dogs in the event something akin to a terrorist attack should happen.

Although it should be the job of law enforcement to be on alert every day, added the sheriff, ?our mindset needs to be a little more aware.?

If you see something, say something, said Bouchard.

Bouchard recalled counter-terrorism trips he made as part of an FBI team to the Middle East.

?If a backpack was left unattended on a sidewalk, people got away from it and called the police,? Bouchard remembered. ?Here, people will pick up that same backpack and unzip it to see, maybe, who it belongs to ... a well-intentioned good Samaritan.? Continued...

Source: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2013/04/15/news/doc516c679ac0537236468525.txt

March Madness 2013 selection sunday NIT Tournament clay matthews Ncaa Tournament 2013 2013 NCAA Bracket leprechaun