And the police did stop traffic from getting onto the bridge. Listening to the police audio [0], it sounds like they were in position almost immediately after the request came in. Having said that, I don't think they were quite fast enough for the traffic already on the bridge to get off.

If they had responded faster, they might have made it in time for the one officer to be on the bridge evacuating the workers when it collapsed. With the benefit of hindsight, that would have accomplished nothing except 1 more death.

I'm often pretty critical of police, but I see absolutely nothing they could have done better in this case.

[0] https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/26/baltimore-key-bridge-collapse-maryland/#link-SG74QTQZKNCI7CT3KCUCWYEZYQ