Hundreds more police on duty for London Marathon

40 percent more officers will be on duty at Sunday race to reassure participants in wake of Boston bombings

19 April 2013, 7:30 pm

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Illustrative: Competitors make their way from the finish area at the London Marathon in 2010. (Tom Hevezi/AP)

LONDON (AP) — London’s police force says it will have 40 percent more officers on duty at the London Marathon than last year, to reassure participants and spectators in the wake of the Boston bombings.

Chief Superintendent Julia Pendry of the Metropolitan Police says there will be several hundred more officers policing Sunday’s race, as well as more search dogs.

She said Friday that officers in London are in close contact with Boston police and the FBI, but have found “no link whatsoever” between London and the double bomb attack that killed three people and wounded more than 170 at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Police in Massachusetts are hunting a suspect in the Boston bombings, identified as 19-year-old Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev. A second suspect died after clashes with police.