By Joshua Rhett Miller

The two explosions at Monday’s Boston Marathon will lead to drastic changes in how large-scale public gatherings, particularly sporting events, will be secured, experts told FoxNews.com.

Mike DeCapua, director of Public Safety Consultants NW, said major changes to how law enforcement officials prepare for and respond to emergencies at events with thousands of participants, supporters or bystanders will “absolutely” occur following the two bombs near the finish line of Monday’s marathon, which killed at least three people and injured at least 176 others.

“That’s what’s going to happen,” DeCapua told FoxNews.com by phone while en route to large venues in Oregon where he would conduct security assessments and emergency planning. “When an event like this happens, you’re going to see more overt police presence and a lot more behind-the-scenes tactics that will make events like this much safer. And I think the public is going to be more vigilant, as well.”

DeCapua — a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and the former homeland security manager for King County Metro, Seattle’s public transit authority — declined to discuss specific measures that would likely be deployed for security concerns. But DeCapua said the largest challenge facing race organizers prior to Monday’s race was the enormity of the 26.2 mile course.

“One of the primary concerns is the size of the venue obviously, and we’ve done a lot of work in stadiums and that’s a fixed piece of ground,” he said. “But in this case, it’s impossible for an entire venue like that to be secured due to the sheer size.”

As a former bomb-sniffing dog handler, DeCapua said those animals have a finite amount of time regarding their olfactory senses to be effective in areas of high-concentration, particularly those with “nooks and crannies” along a lengthy route — as was the case in Monday’s bombing.

Another key challenge facing law enforcement officials is the diversity of competitors and their supporters at such international events, which makes profiling a virtual “nonstarter,” DeCapua said.

“Profiling in a crowd like that is next to impossible,” he said, adding that he would instead focus upon random searches, roving teams of investigators and hardened checkpoints.

With the London Marathon just days away, increased security measures can be expected at the race that drew roughly 37,500 athletes last year, as well as next month’s Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500. No known specific threats against the British race had been received, however.

Nick Bitel, the London Marathon‘s chief executive, said security plans were discussed with police “as soon as we heard the news” about Boston and Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesman Doug Boles said Monday’s incident will be considered when precautions for the race are considered.

“I guess this will bring a new topic or dialogue to those discussions, to see if there’s anything more we need to do to prepare with respect to what’s happened in Boston,” Boles told The Associated Press. “And we will learn more about that over the next couple of days, as the folks in Boston do, and we will be prepared for that.”

At the

From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/5cqpRzQVDhI/