A year later, BAA head says officers ‘followed police protocol’ amid interaction with racially diverse run clubs

A photo provided by the Pioneers Run Crew shows police apparently lining up to block members of two diverse running clubs as they cheered on runners at the Boston Marathon in April 2023.Dave Hashim/Pioneers Run Crew

The Boston Athletic Association privately apologized to a group of police chiefs for how it addressed a high-profile incident involving their officers and two racially diverse running clubs at last year’s Boston Marathon after the chiefs said they would not help staff the race route next month without an apology.

The effort by BAA chief executive Jack Fleming to assuage law enforcement underscores the long-simmering tensions the episode touched off, both among police and those who argued that officers unnecessarily targeted people of color.

Fleming’s overture came after Westwood Police Chief Jeffrey Silva — president of the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council, a consortium of more than 40 police departments — told the BAA that the council would not help staff this year’s race unless the race organizer apologized for how it handled its public statement and agreed to cover the costs of the officers the council helps provide.

The BAA agreed to both terms, Silva wrote in an email to police chiefs Tuesday.

In an email shared with dozens of Massachusetts police chiefs, Fleming said the BAA “did not properly recognize the important role [police] play in the marathon and that you followed police protocol” in the incident, in which officers on bicycles formed a line in front of member of two running clubs, blocking them from interacting with racers on the course.

In a separate statement to the Globe, Fleming said Wednesday that race organizers this year would make it clear to spectators the course must remain clear for runners.

The spectators included members of the Pioneers Run Crew and the TrailblazHers Run Co., which the BAA called “two of Boston’s premier clubs for BIPOC runners.” After the incident, some members said they felt singled out, and a leader of one club said members were occasionally jumping onto the course near Heartbreak Hill to cheer on runners or friends.

Newton police, whose officers were among those involved, said at the time that it responded three times at the request of the BAA, which organizes the Marathon, to keep the group members from obstructing runners. Leaders of the two clubs could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The episode drew widespread attention. Lawyers for Civil Rights, a nonprofit legal organization, accused police of racial profiling and targeting the “predominantly Black observers.” Newton police defended their officers’ actions, arguing they were simply responding to a call from the BAA itself and had treated the club members “respectfully.”

After days of controversy, the BAA weighed in: Fleming issued an apologetic statement noting that race organizers had met with members of the two clubs and that it would “need to do better to create an environment that is welcoming and supportive of the BIPOC communities at the marathon.” He also said the BAA relies on the support and services of the eight cities and towns along the Marathon course.

“We could not do it without the first responders and law enforcement agencies across 26.2 miles that is necessary at an event of this scale,” Fleming said in the statement. “We ask for everyone’s support as we move forward to improve the event for generations to come.”

That statement, however, frustrated police, who felt the BAA should have more clearly recognized police. Newton Police Chief John Carmichael Jr. said an internal review performed by the department determined the police “dealt with the situation progressively.”

“They did exactly what they’re trained and expected to do,” Carmichael said.

That frustration lingered for months, eventually prompting leaders at the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council to tell the BAA they wouldn’t “be providing services” without a written apology.

Fleming wrote to the chiefs that he “meant no disrespect” to police in how he crafted last year’s statement.

“The BAA needs to do a better job communicating to the spectators that the course must remain clear to have a successful event,” Fleming wrote to Silva and Carmichael.

In a statement to the Globe, Fleming said he sent the apology to the chiefs to “acknowledge that omission in our message.”

“Simply put, the Boston Athletic Association . . . did not do a good job last year communicating the longstanding policy that we need a clear course,” Fleming said. “By not clearly and consistently communicating that policy or creating clear delineation around where spectators can view the race, we did a disservice to all spectators and the police that we rely on to help maintain a clear course.”

The Law Enforcement Council, known as MetroLEC, helps organize police across dozens of departments, allowing them to pool resources for specialized units that a single department can’t staff or afford.

MetroLEC typically helps provide 100 to 125 officers for the Marathon, including members of the bicycle unit, Silva told the Globe. But he said he was unclear how many departments would agree to send officers this year, despite the apology.

“Our goal is to keep everybody safe, regardless of who they are, where they’re from, how they look,” Silva said. “That having been said, the officers were deeply offended, that they were accused of doing something with racial animus and they became the B roll of over policing or biased policing. That clearly was not the case.”

At the time, Lawyers for Civil Rights had asked city officials for records of police incidents, reports, and surveillance activity along the Marathon route, as well as the race and ethnicity of anyone arrested. The group wrote “the military-style formation of the police officers” in the incident “is a concrete example and visual representation of the intimidation and over-policing of Black people.”

Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, the group’s executive director, said the BAA apology to the police chiefs “is shameful. The people who should be apologizing are the police officers for what they did to the Black running crews.”

The 128th Boston Marathon is scheduled for April 15.