A report by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency about the Boston Marathon bombing says the response of safety agencies was uncoordinated, putting officers in jeopardy — but it largely praises the agencies involved.
The report says more than 2,500 officers from 116 federal, state, and local agencies converged on Watertown during the hunt for the bombing suspect. Many of them self-deployed without knowledge of their supervisors.
The report says one officer acted “without appropriate authority,” firing on the boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was hiding in response to perceived movement. That prompted so-called “contagious fire,” by other officers who kept firing even after supervisors ordered a ceasefire, and created "dangerous crossfire situations."
Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed says the report’s findings may affect Tsarnaev’s prosecution.
"It could, as a legal matter, comprise newly discovered evidence that could give rise to a new trial motion afterwards that would challenge some of the charge, specifically the ones that relate to the firefight,” Medwed said.
The report applauds many aspects of the response, including the quick organization of a command center, the fast actions of medical staff, and the effective preservation of the crime scene.
However consultants also found many areas that needed improvement: At the time of the 2013 marathon, there was no integrated public safety plan, there was confusion about which city agency was responsible for what, there was no public address system in place to communicate with runners and spectators; and there was no communication with hospitals about the nature of the bombs, leading them to spend critical moments wondering if they should place patients in decontamination.
The report also cites many problems with the response in Watertown. It wasn’t clear who was in command. Local officials weren’t adequately consulted, and lack of familiarity with the area made deploying resources difficult.
The report was done by a private consultant. The state initially delayed its release at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which was concerned about influencing the jury in the Tsarnaev trial.
