The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is delaying the release of a long-awaited report on the response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. MEMA says it doesn't want the report's release to disrupt the on-going Tsarnaev trial or compromise positive coverage of this year's race.
The report is supposed to provide an analysis of public agencies' preparedness for the bombings, their response to it, and their recovery afterward.
Peter Judge, spokesman for MEMA, said the US Attorney's Office initially requested the report's release be delayed because of a possible impact on the jury pool for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's federal trial. Now, Judge says, the release date has been delayed again.
"We're starting to get 2015 Boston Marathon stories going, and we felt at this time it probably wouldn't be advantageous, if you will. It might take away from the positive stories around this year's marathon. So the decision has been made to wait until after this year's marathon goes forward."
The report was done by a private vendor, under a contract signed with the MEMA in late 2013. The original request for proposals said the contract wouldn't exceed $421,200, a portion of which would be underwritten by federal funds.
