Watertown is 4.2 square miles with a population of 31,915. I live very near the area. The police had a helicopter circling an area about a mile in diameter. That figures to 0.78 square miles. The governor locked down an area about 101.5 square miles when you figure the combined areas of Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, Watertown, Belmont, Newton, and Waltham. That area includes a population of 992,320.
All throughout the day the cops never changed the active search area. By midday, they gave up on the helicopter search. In the end, the fugitive was just outside the active search area by a block or so. They could have simply doubled the area of the active search and let everyone else go about their business. The governor screwed a lot of people out of a days pay, made them eat stale food, and obstructed a lot of services to people in need. Incompetence is a hallmark of fascist thinking.
Thanks for the info.