BETHESDA, Md. 鈥� The explosion that wounded roughly a couple dozen people in New York has officials in the D.C.聽region keeping a close eye on all that is happening.
鈥淲hen you hear about those things, your immediate thought is 鈥榃hat if it happened here?鈥欌�� Montgomery County Police Chief Thomas Manger rhetorically asked. 鈥淲ould we be prepared?聽 How would we respond?鈥�
After running through those scenarios, Manger said the next thing that immediately comes to mind is how you could help those affected.
Manger, who was speaking about policing in the county during a forum at St. John鈥檚 Norwood Church in Bethesda, said the D.C. region is very well prepared for anything that should affect the area.
鈥淐ertainly, in the Washington, D.C., area, we have a great relationship around the Beltway with law enforcement agencies providing help to each other when things like this happen,鈥� the police chief said.
Manger said the D.C.聽area has been having conversations about safety and security since the Sept. 11聽terror attacks back in 2001.
鈥�9/11 was a wake-up call for this country and for law enforcement,” Manger said.
D.C.聽and New York are filled with potential terror targets — even more so in the capital region, where many of those potential threats are outside the District border in suburban locales such as Montgomery County.
鈥淚 think there is probably no place that is better prepared than the Washington, D.C. area,鈥� Manger said. 鈥淣ew York is certainly right there, as well.鈥�
