Police create guide for festival organizers as precaution against terrorism

CTV Montreal: A guide for security Montreal police have compiled a guide for festival organizers to ensure the safety of pedestrians.

To protect against terrorism threats during the city's busy summer months, Montreal police have prepared a 25-page guide for organizers of outdoor festivals.

Police say that they are taking precautions following the attack in Nice, France in 2016 and several others like it that involved a vehicle driving into crowds of people.

Montreal police said they want to be proactive, and therefore met with festival organizers and handed out the guide, offering specific suggestions to keep festivalgoers safe.

Parts of the guide are off-limits to the public, and are also specific to each situation.

“We’re talking really about different locations. The environment is very different from one place to another, so we’re talking about sites that are open to the public, as well as closed sites, we can even have moving sites and pedestrian zones. So we explained to our partners the ways we can make it the most secure. We also have figured out the objects and tools we can use – or not use -- that will help make a site more secure,” explained Martin Grenier of the Montreal police.

Police stressed that they are not guarding against any particular threat, but simply want to be cautious.

They also say they will create a new updated guide for 2018 as they review and evaluate with ongoing events in Montreal and worldwide.

Officials at the Jazz Festival and the Just For Laughs Festival both said they are taking security at their sites seriously but must be discreet about their specific strategies.