91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

New Orleans attack pushes Salem, Massachusetts to speed up plan to improve crowd safety

By
Penny Kmitt
Penny Kmitt
Penny Kmitt
Penny Kmitt is a reporter for WBZ-TV's morning news. She joined the station in December 2023 from CBS-affiliate WTKR in Norfolk, Virginia.
Read Full Bio
Penny Kmitt

/ CBS Boston

SALEM - The deadly attack in New Orleans has caused Salem, Massachusetts to speed up a plan to improve crowd safety.

Salem is known around the world for its experience during Halloween, but the city is also a historic site with tourists visiting throughout the year. 

"Accelerate the project"

In a on social media, the mayor and the police chief said they already had a plan to install more mechanical and fixed bollards and barriers to limit traffic by the end of the year, but the attack in New Orleans "means we will accelerate that project" and get it done before October.

"The starkest lesson seems to be that while New Orleans enacted very similar measures to Salem to keep people on the street safe, the assailant was able to simply drive around barriers, either because mechanical bollards were out of service or because he drove on the sidewalk," Mayor Dominick Pangallo and Police Chief Lucas Miller said in their statement.

"Another lesson is that while Mardi Gras would be the most likely event for an attack in New Orleans, any well-attended event is a target. Salem also has events throughout the year."  

salem.jpg
Traffic bollards on Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts. CBS Boston

Salem security review

The mayor and chief said police will bring in more mobile vehicle barriers and specially trained officers in October. They also plan to have an outside security expert review their changes, which they said "will be an additional imposition on downtown residents and businesses." 

"There's going to be impacts to convenience for sure," Mayor Pangallo told WBZ-TV Friday. 

A worker at the Ugly Mug Diner on Washington Street said that she's noticed several close calls outside the restaurant.

"The bigger that Salem gets, the more people that are going to be here," employee Meagan Chalmers told WBZ. "But at the end of the day, we have all these awesome things in the city of Salem because of all these tourists."  

More than one million people came to Salem in October 2024, according to the city. More than 87,000 visitors were there just on Halloween.

In:

© 2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });