Are Dallas Police Upping Security For Dark Knight Rises? We Don’t Know Yet.

Update at 2:34 p.m.:Okay, now we know. DPD’s statement hit my inbox a few minutes ago:

In response to the shooting that occurred in Aurora, Colorado, the Dallas Police Department has instructed patrol officers to provide extra visibility and to be extra vigilant at public locations where large numbers of people gather, such as movie theaters. The Dallas Police Department does have plans and procedures in place to quickly and effectively respond to incidents of this nature. Police officers have been receiving training for several years on how to respond to an incident involving a person who is actively firing a weapon in public buildings.

As always, the Police Department requests the public to immediately call 911 whenever suspicious activity is observed.

Original post: The middle-of-the-night screenings of The Dark Knight Rises in Dallas came and went without incident but, as you’ve no doubt heard by now, that wasn’t the case in Aurora, Colorado. There, in the early-morning hours, a 24-year-old man decked out in trench coat and bulletproof vest entered a packed theater via the emergency exit and opened fire, killing a dozen and injuring 50 or so.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was quick to announce the department was upping security at movie theaters “as a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons in the wake of the horrendous shooting in Colorado.”

So, how about Dallas? Police spokesman Sherri Jeffrey said a few minutes ago that she wasn’t sure but that she was checking and will send out a press release when she finds out.

If they do think it’s necessary to up security — and given that this was a random act by a lone nutcase, I’m not sure that it is — they better hop to it. AMC NorthPark’s first screening in daytime hours started at 9:45 a.m. I called the theater just to make sure and, yep, everything’s on schedule.