So, what would you have done differently in Boston

[Raven]

during the crisis? After the bombings,during the so called shootout, during the search for Suspect #2. What would you have done? To all of the people who don't think it was done right...what would you have done? I'd like some concrete answers.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

1. plenty

i wouldn't have shut down the whole city with thousands of officers searching for 2 people.

i would have handled more like the UK did with their IRA bombers, not get so hysterical, to justify this new normal.

many countries can be held up as an example of how to better handle the situation.

[Raven]

4. so...how many officers would you have deployed? Exactly what would you have done?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

10. much much less, for a lone, wounded 19yo with no military training

I already gave a concreate example of how others have handled this better, the UK.

[randome]

19. No, you didn't. "Like the UK" is nothing concrete.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

29. are you kidding? They dealt with many bombings and NEVER shut down a whole city AND

they aren't the only country in the world to ever experience bombings by terrorist... it has happened many times in the U.S. as well, and we nor they have NEVER shut down a whole city to catch one wounded teenaged terrorist.

that is something that used to only happen in countries like palestine, is that the new normal we are supposed to get used to here in the U.S. now?

sorry, but those are factual concrete examples.

[randome]

35. You still seem to be saying what NOT to do instead of how to better handle the situation.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

40. No, I provided an example of how it was better handled, than shutting down a whole major city.

And there are plenty more where that came from, this is not the first time a terrorist exploded a bomb in a city, but our reaction to it certainly was unprecedented, and I am confused as to why that is so hard to understand.

[Raven]

41. So, your concrete answer to my question is to

copy some other city, no details, just do what they did?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

45. Whole books have been written on the subject, and it is not just some other city

there are many other cities who have had to deal with this kind of terror.

do you expect me to believe you are not familiar with the many past events of bombings in cities around the world, and not recognize what we did in Boston is unprecedented?

It especially pains me, being that Boston has historically been THE beacon of Freedom in the world.

I will NOT surrender my freedoms to some crazy terrorist no matter how many bombs they set off!

I lived through the cold war where it was much scarier and we NEVER acted as paranoid as we do now, and it is a good damned discrace for America to behave this way, imho.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

81. The British used military patrols even when there was no immediate attack

How does that make it less invasive than the Boston police (not federal troops)?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

87. Bloomberg Says Interpretation of Constitution Will ‘Have to Change’ After Boston Bombing

http://politicker.com/2013/04/bloomberg-says-post-boston-interpretation-of-the-constitution-will-have-to-change/

Also, my point is that they (and many other countries - let's not forget that point) didn't put a whole major city on lock down, with home invasions.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

89. Bloomberg is a jack-ass who is exploiting an attack to force his dictates

which he has been forcing even without a terrorist attack as a pretext. My criticisms of Bloomberg predate this tragedy.

However, that doesn't change the fact you cited the British as the case study of doing things correctly when their tactics actually favor what Bloomberg wants. As I noted the British used regular army troops for decades to patrol the streets even when not in immediate pursuit of a dangerous suspect. The video you use as the basis of your complaint are civilian police officers who ceased using those tactics as soon as the suspect was caught.

You might as well complain they drove faster than the posted speed limit while chasing the brothers.

[onenote]

88. we fucking did drills hiding under our elementary school desks during the cold war

and I'm curious, exactly how did what went on in Boston take away your freedoms?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

91. right, but they didn't lock down the whole city, looking for one person

not to mention barging in our homes with high powered automatic rifles to "rescue" us.

You may feel more secure with a police state, but I don't. To each their own, right?

Bloomberg Says Interpretation of Constitution Will ‘Have to Change’ After Boston Bombing

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks.

“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex world where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”

http://politicker.com/2013/04/bloomberg-says-post-boston-interpretation-of-the-constitution-will-have-to-change/

[Bluenorthwest]

47. London never had a hot pursuit of a fleeing bomber.

The events were separate. What Boston did the day of the explosion can be compared to what London did on similar days, but the pursuit of the bomber several days later did not involve chases across London, it did however lead to enormous searches, partitions, profiling and a virtual police state in Belfast, where they built walls and jailed people and pursued their mad bombers. Did they really 'do it better'? I don't think that they did.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

52. WRONG: pursuing a lone, wounded, teenaged terrorist, is even LESS reason to shut down an entire city

and you are still wrong...

February 1993, three IRA members planted bombs at the gas storage facility (or gas holders) on Winwick Road, Warrington. At 11:45PM that night a police officer stopped the three men in a van on Sankey Street. As he was questioning them, the IRA members shot him three times and sped off in the van.[2] About an hour later they hijacked a car in Lymm, put the driver in the boot and drove off towards Manchester.[2] At about 1AM police spotted the car and chased it along the M62 motorway in the direction of Warrington. Shots were fired during the high-speed chase and two police vehicles were hit. Police stopped the car on the motorway near Croft and arrested two of the IRA members: Pairic MacFloinn (40) and Denis Kinsella (25). The third member escaped.

The only thing new in this world is the history you don't know. - truman

[randome]

55. They didn't know he was alone. They didn't know how badly wounded he was.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

57. oh

[Summer Hathaway]

123. Please do not attempt

to 'feed' certain people facts - they tend to stick in their craw.

[Bluenorthwest]

58. A highway chase. In cars, on a highway. Not in an urban neighborhood.

Not even a moment's foot chase. Try again. I know you went and tried to find something, but that sure is not applicable.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

62. Nevermind

"There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know."

[Bluenorthwest]

68. Your example was a highway chase, and you didn't even take a pass at Belfast.

So sure. They did better. Except for Northern Ireland, the thousands of cameras all over London, the profiling, and all of that jazz.

[avebury]

83. I was in London at a time when

they had several bombs go off one night. London did not shut down. Life continued the next day. I wouldn't have even know what had happened if someone hadn't told us about it. I dragged my friend to the bomb site located near Marble Arch to get a picture.

After the shoot-out in Watertown the one thing that I would have done would have been to bring in a lot more tracking dogs. I think that might have resulted in locating the younger boy a lot faster. It is pretty evident that the boy was most likely on foot after he abandoned the stolen car.

[randome]

90. If you're talking about 2005, the bombers were killed in one of the blasts.

And even if you mean some other time, I don't believe they had a crazed killer on the loose who was reasonably suspected of having collaborators and other bombs set to go off.

I would be entirely surprised if the Boston authorities handled every aspect of this perfectly but they were on the ground at the time and Bostonians seem very grateful for what they did.

That, to me, means this subject does not deserve any but the most cursory examination, and should not be conflated with evil overlords trying to suck the freedom from our marrow, as some seem to believe.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

94. WRONG: See post #52

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2744172

[avebury]

117. Nope. This back in the 1990s. I can't

remember what year but it was before 1995 because I was still living in Maine at the time.

[Fumesucker]

2. Take off and nuke the entire site from orbit

It's the only way to be sure.

[zappaman]

6. +1!

Because I haven't seen a good ALIENS reference in a while...

[neverforget]

7. Fuckin' A

[Brickbat]

11. They can bill me.

[sarisataka]

31. You can't make that kind of decision, you're just a grunt

Ah, no offense

[bench scientist]

60. that is always sound advice, FS

especially for those that have trouble separating reality from fiction.
lol

[Kennah]

76. Weyland-Yutani did NOT approve this post. You have been warned.

[ThomThom]

3. would of had more people walking the streets during event

looking for unattended backpacks and bags.
Would have had many reminders leading up to event telling people not to leave stuff around and watch for people that do and report it

[Raven]

8. Good point. Hindsight is 20/20. I lived at

the crest of heartbreak hill for 20+ years and we never thought about rogue bags and backpacks. After this, a good suggestion to be sure!

[ThomThom]

12. Yes it is. Glad you are alright.

I live near DC and ride the trains a lot. We hear over and over don't leave your stuff and report unattended bags.

[RantinRavin]

22. My understanding

Is that it was less than 1 minute from the time the backpacks were dropped until they detonated.

[customerserviceguy]

5. Lockdown rewards the next terrorist(s)

I remember when the DC snipers had the greater Capitol area tied up in knots, with people afraid to even go out to fill up with gasoline. I'm somewhat surprised that Islamic terrorists haven't used the tactic to tie up a dozen or so major US cities, funding the terrorist cells that would shoot out of car trunks. It was the grab for the money that led to the capture of John Allen Muhammad, if he had an outside endless source of funding, he could have continued the terror indefinitely.

It was only after the "all clear" signal was given that the guy who found asshat #2 went out and checked his back yard. If that signal had been given an hour and a half later, the cover of darkness would have provided an opportunity for him to slip away.

A friend of mine pointed out that Dunkin' Donuts was allowed to stay open, since they "provide services to police". He loved the irony, and the cliches that this invoked.

[Raven]

9. So...what would you have done other than close DD?

[customerserviceguy]

129. Did I give that impression?

I intended the opposite, if DD can remain open, everything else can, too.

[randome]

14. They provided services to the police and the national guard and probably the FBI, too.

And having a lone chain open made things more manageable than it would suggesting that everyone go about their business.

Coffee and donuts are the preferred sustenance in an emergency.

[customerserviceguy]

130. I do trust you are being sarcastic

Sometimes, I'm just not sure...

[Logical]

18. I 100% agree with you. The terrorists learned that......

If you can spend $300 and blow up a couple of pressure cookers and kill 3 people that you can disable a major US city for a full day.

I think that terrorists will repeat this at some point. Why not? Small investment for a huge impact.

[Raven]

26. So....? What would you have done other than not closing the DD's?

[Bluenorthwest]

53. Ah, no. You left out the part where after the bombs days past and the pursuit only

engaged after shoot outs, death of one partner, and the blood trail of the second being right there to follow. The bombs did not cause the pursuit. To shut the city down, the investment is your lives. This is what any potentials should take from this. They give up their only lives to inconvenience Boston for a few hours. Huge investment for minimal impact.

[Logical]

61. LOL, I guess you forgot many of them don't mind dying. Read some stories about it. n-t

[Bluenorthwest]

71. Yeah, but that's not at all what you said, and those two sure seemed to mind.

You said all they did was set off the bombs and with that low investment they shut a city down. But in reality, the bombs were days before their attempt to escape with their lives and freedom failed. Not a small investment of 300 bucks.
So LOL. Your rhetoric is not very accurate.

[Logical]

73. OK, you are right. Terrorists never plan on dying or getting caught. My bad. n-t

[onenote]

64. actually what they learned was

that if they are successful in using a couple of pressure cookers to blow up some people, they are going to die and/or get caught.

[Logical]

65. Wow, almost like terrorists who plan on dying. Good point. Except these idiots also.....

shut down a major US city. Better than the shoe bomber, underwear bomber and and Times Square bomber. Who also got caught. Your point is??

[onenote]

85. I don't particularly have one. Still trying to figure out yours.

By the way, why are you so fixated on the fact that the fugitive bomber was 19. Would it have been different if he was 27?

[Logical]

92. No, one person shutting down a major US city for a day is silly no matter the age. n-t

[onenote]

96. Yet you constantly refer to his age in your posts as if it matters some how

what gives?

[thucythucy]

72. "It was only after the all clear signal..."

I've thought about that.

Then again, if the all clear had been given hours earlier, or if there had been no shelter in place request at all, suspect #2 would have had hours less to bleed out. He might have been far more alert and active when this homeowner lifted his tarp, resulting in one dead homeowner, possibly another firefight, with more police killed or wounded, and with the suspect possibly dead as well. Not to mention, probably a lot of second guessing of the "why didn't the idiots lock down the city" sort.

BTW, a number of businesses stayed open, and quite a few people ignored the "shelter in place." As I understand it, it was a request, not a demand. Nobody got busted for ignoring the "order."

And I also hear--from friends in Watertown--that the Dunkin' Donuts provided its "services" that day for free. But yes, it is a rich source for jokes, now that it's all over.

I used to live in Boston. I love that city now more than ever.

[customerserviceguy]

131. I still think that discovering the suspect was more luck than skill

As for the guy who looked under the tarp, I'm sure that most people shuddered when they heard he did that, it would have been a damned good way to get your head blown off. Surely, the police in the area would have taken the tip seriously, and wouldn't have blamed him a bit if it turned out to be a false alarm.

Now, maybe city authorities had some information, even if it was mere speculation, that another bombing was imminent, or at least highly possible. That's a reason to lock down a major city, but I don't recall any reports of such. We cannot let idiots know that they can shut down our whole society with a few hundred dollars worth of explosives.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the DD was open. I just wish the other businesses in the area felt free to have the same opportunities. In the end, I imagine the bars were full that Friday night, with people celebrating the end of the nightmare.

[Logical]

13. Nothing says "Terrorists Win!" like shutting down a whole city for a missing 19 year old. n-t

[Raven]

17. What would you have done?

[Logical]

21. Not shut down the city for ONE missing suspect n-t

[Raven]

27. Good, and then what?

[Logical]

30. Everything else they did was fine with me. n-t

[JoePhilly]

69. Then the terrorists win every time snow is predicted in Raleigh NC.

Because the entire area shuts down for a day if snow is predicted.

And it's two or three days if there is actual snow.

[Renew Deal]

103. Are you calling Mother Nature a terrorist?

[JoePhilly]

124. Depends ...

What color is she and what's her Religion?

[treestar]

95. "Missing 19 year old"

does not accurately describe it. He was not simply "missing."

[Logical]

98. Yes, "Missing", "On the loose", "Escaped", Etc. Like the DC Snipers or escaped prisoners. n-t

[randome]

15. And still no one can answer your question. Strange.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

16. see very first post: did they shut london down during the IRA bombings?

[randome]

23. London is a much larger city. 609 square miles compared to Boston's 89.

The case can easily be made that a smaller city justifies the house to house search.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

37. London is just one example, there are many many more, shutting down a MAJOR U.S. for 1 wounded teen

terrorist is not only unprecedented, it's just nuts.

[randome]

49. They also had reason to suspect collaborators.

Their apartment was full of bomb-making equipment. They had a reasonable suspicion of collaborators or other bombs having been already positioned and set.

We should not be trying to make Bostonians ashamed of themselves for how they conducted themselves during the crisis. They don't need our help in filing any objections they have, which appear to be none.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

56. look, the fact is, this is UNPRECEDENTED, and DANGEROUS

no one is putting shame on Bostonians, just their leaders.

Sorry, this is America, and we are all entitled to discuss and criticize our leadership, so please do not try to shame others for exercising that right.

Thank you.

[randome]

66. These same points have been made over and over.

And each time, the majority disagrees that any unholy precedents were set.

It's time to move on.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

70. Good, I am glad to hear that!

And no, it is not 'time to move on', now is exactly the time to discuss these important issues, as they are happening.

Why do you want to shut down the discussion/debate?

FYI: The majority is often wrong.

[HiPointDem]

106. "Why do you want to shut down the discussion/debate?"

= minders

[treestar]

93. I was there in London once when the IRA set off a bomb near Harrods Dept. Store

The place I was staying was in a part of London that was roped off and shut down. Police escorted us to the hotel.

They were not even chasing anyone. Whoever did it just got away, at least, initially.

[gejohnston]

125. while the smaller size makes it easier

but warrantless house to house searches are never justified.

[Raven]

24. No, apparently they didn't. So your suggestion is

don't shut down the MBTA? Is that it?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

33. don't try to recreate the conditions the Palestinians unfortunately have to live under in the U.S.

and the UK is NOT the only example.

[Raven]

34. Not sure I understand your post. Please explain.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

42. My point is simple, lets not get hysterical over a lone, wounded, teen terrorist.

And put a whole city on lock down, i.e. marshal law, like they do in Palestine.

This is unprecedented, and I do not think we should accept it, or we have lost everything I was brought to believe we exist for, FREEDOM.

[Bluenorthwest]

75. The word is 'martial' law not 'marshall'. There was not martial law in

Boston. There has been martial law on several occasions in the US, you should look them up and do some edumacating. It has been abused and used. It simply was not employed in Boston.

[Bluenorthwest]

63. There was never a pursuit of an escapcing bomber in London. Did Boston shut down the day

of the bombs? No. London shut portions of the city down with a regularity I found unsettling back then. Those bombings went on for years and years.
And of course the place anti IRA policy by the UK played out was in Northern Ireland, where they swept neighborhoods and kept lockdowns and curfews as an ongoing way of life.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

67. see post #52

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=2744172

[Bluenorthwest]

74. Your example is of a highway chase far away from London, on highways. A car chase.

There was never an instance of a pursuit in London of an IRA bomber fleeing the scene. What Boston did on the day of the bomb was very similar to what London did on those occasions. For the pursuit there is no counterpart event in London nor any city in England, cities in Northern Ireland took that hit, huge and straight to the civil rights balls. You fail to address any of that. Again.

[Raven]

20. Yes, strange indeed, but I'm waiting for some answers.

[HiPointDem]

105. actually i'm barely 1/4 through the thread and i've seen several answers.

strange you didn't notice.

[ZombieHorde]

126. I have read at least two answers, and I haven't finished reading the thread. nt

[Gormy Cuss]

25. I'm a bit puzzled why the entire city of Boston was given the shelter-in-place

because some neighborhoods are further away from the Arsenal St. area than parts of Somerville where no shelter-in-place was issued.I realize that for simplicity it was easier to say all of the city but on a practical level I'm not sure why it was necessary.

With the T shut down it was hard for workers from a much wider area to get to work even if they lived and worked outside of the s-i-p zone. There are many T bus routes that run mostly outside of the shelter-in-place zone, yet AFAIK none of the buses were running. I wonder how those T-dependent workers fared.

I'm not suggesting how to do it differently. It's a bit foolish to armchair quarterback the event at this point. I just hope that some day we hear why some of these judgment calls were made.

[randome]

28. I'm sure many people would normally travel INTO the shelter-in-place area. Perhaps that's why.

[Gormy Cuss]

43. Not talking about them. There are many who travel wholly outside of the area.

Within one community or to an adjacent one for example. There are many routes that function as the local transit in smaller cities like Everett, Somerville, and Quincy.

[randome]

54. Yeah, I hear you.

Maybe it was simply faster and less confusing to apply SIP to the entire city. And they had a reasonable suspicion of other bombs or collaborators so why have people out and about if they ran a bigger risk of being killed?

[Raven]

32. Fair questions. I'm not sure what the logic was on the sip order and

I hope when the dust clears that we will get some explanations.

[wercal]

36. Track him with more typical police methods

The police found the abandoned SUV....

The guy was bleeding...

Step 1: Follow the blood trail (on Saturday, I saw a live report showing some blood drops around 150 yards from the boat. He was clearly bleeding - just follow the trail like a wounded deer.)

Step 2: Follow his scent. Start the dogs at the SUV, and follow from there. Its done all the time.

Step 3: Considering he had been firing a gun and handling explosives, have a dog wander the neighborhood sniffing for gunpowder.

Step 4: Don't point the guns in people's faces when they answer their door.

Step 5: Don't stop a guy on a bicycle and search his backpack (this was a very un-Russian looking black guy).

Step 6: Use thermals. I am actually amazed that they couldn't identify him from the air more quickly. I once spoke to a gent, who lets just say spent alot of time in and out of jail, about this. He said the helicopter was his worst enemy. He even described hiding in dog houses or next to air conditioning condensing units, since those are places where heat should be expected. But even then, if you're cornered in an area, eventually the helicopter will find you. (I also used thermals in the Army...and a guy laying down in a boat should have really stood out. I believe that the 'flooding the zone' with bodies may have caused so many hot spots, that the operator was overwhelmed with information.

Those are just a few. Its actually incredibly common for the police to be looking for one guy, holed up in a neighborhood. It probably happens at least once a day somewhere in this country...without what we saw last week.


There was a manhunt near my house once - triple murder, and my house was in the 'perimeter'. They found him after 18 hours very close by. As this was going on, it didn't even occur to me that the police might beat on my door and eject me from my home. They had a helicopter in the air and could very clearly see whether or not this guy moved towards my huse, or anyone else's house. The helicopter spotlight even followed me to my house (after clearing the police roadblock), just to make sure I didn't have any unwanted company as I got to my door. There was great utility in having fewer bodies scurrying around. And what do you know, they found the guy in the morning, without invading anyone's house. It was just another very typical search...shouldn't be as big a deal as this turned out to be.

[Raven]

39. Thank you...the first concrete list of suggested alternatives...

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

46. these procedures are not new, and have been routinely followed during many simular events

in the past.

Ignorance of them, and FEAR is the only way the gov can justify these unprecedented, and unjustified over reactions.

People simply need to look at history to know that these responses are unprecedented and are setting the stage for us to be comfortable with a new normal, a police state.

Do we want to become like palestine here in the U.S.

In Boston, no less?

I sure don't. Bombers be damned!

[TheCowsCameHome]

38. Not a damn thing.

The job was done, quickly and efficiently.

Kudos to Boston's leaders.

[sarisataka]

44. It seems that during the shootout

that killed the older brother, different action could have better tracked the second. If not able to apprehend him, at least establish a better perimeter.
I do not have enough details to give any specific course of action.

I wonder, do the Monday morning QBs who think Boston PD should have done business as usual consider what would have happened if they set off another bomb in a crowd. I suspect many who are crying 'overreaction' would have been screaming 'why didn't the police do more'. To complete the irony, I would bet they would point to all of the paramilitary equipment the police have and ask why it sat instead of being used to capture the fugitives.

[uppityperson]

48. Shut the media off, do not allow them to be right there following it breathlessly 24 hr/day

If anything, somehow, not sure how, deal with the media hype. Yes, it was awful and scary for those involved. But the media OMG OMG OMGOMGOMGOMOGMGOM!!!! crap? Bah. On the other hand, hopefully other people were also disgusted by them and will look at them more cynically in the future.

[Purveyor]

77. WOW! Seriously? Progressive forum...indeed! eom

[uppityperson]

78. I would like news to actually cover news, not breathless speculation. If that makes me

a bad person in your eyes, so be it.

Except for getting people across the nation to follow this "as it happened", why the breathless erroneous reporting?

[Purveyor]

79. In 'my eyes' you are. Practice your 'goosestep' but I hear is it hell on your back. eom

[uppityperson]

80. Ever see the made for tv movie Special Bulletin? I highly recommend it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

[Purveyor]

82. I don't watch 'tv' movies but the fact that you do explains much... I'm finished with this thread.

[uppityperson]

86. OMG, assume much? I walked in on friends watching it back in 1980's. It is about how media

covers events and is very interesting. Good grief.

[Purveyor]

99. Good memory you have, indeed. Have a bridge to sell too? eom

[uppityperson]

122. It was quite the movie and greatly impressing. Too bad you are more concerned with snarking than

learning something.

[Hekate]

119. You know what? That's actually a concrete suggestion, and an excellent one

I would much rather see regular updates at press conferences when there is something to relate, and hear it accurately. The media hysteria and misinformation was dangerous and disgusting.

[uppityperson]

121. Exactly.

[winstars]

50. Made the perimeter a little bigger, he was actually hiding OUTSIDE THE SEARCH AREA...

just saying...

[datasuspect]

51. kept calm

and carried on?

[Warpy]

59. They got lucky in Boston

They got lucky that a carjacking victim could outrun the bombers. They got lucky that he left his cell phone behind. And they got lucky there was a curious boat owner just outside the search zone.

Other than that, I might have gotten a chopper with a thermo pickup into the air as soon as idiot #2 abandoned the car.

Other than that, I can't think of anything much I'd have done differently.

Getting their pictures out there made them frightened and fear made them careless. Then the cops got lucky.

It happens like that more than you'd think it does.

[Renew Deal]

109. The cell phone was huge

I don't know if the victim was wise or lucky on that one, but it made the terrorists easy to find.

[nadinbrzezinski]

118. As a detective once put it

Luck is part of police work, just don't make it a habit.

Som of the weird talks with cops. I guess I could write police procedural s, just hate em

[pipi_k]

84. I'm always interested

in hearing what people would have done instead of what was done, and why they think their actions would have made the situation any better.

Oh yeah, it's all good looking back. But unless someone is actually in the situation at the time, it's all just meaningless speculation and after-the-fact bullshit.

So, I have no goddamned clue what I would have done differently. My crystal ball is broken, so I have no idea whether anything I might have done would have worked or not.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

97. The one thing they won't say --

"I'll enroll at the academy, work hard to move up through the ranks and join the counter-terrorism task force to show how to do it properly because all those other people with all those decades of education and experience are morons!"

[ZombieHorde]

127. "Oh yeah, it's all good looking back."

Don't you think cities should have plans for these types of things by now?

[Blue_Tires]

128. I'm just glad they got the guy BEFORE

1. He hurt anyone else, and more importantly...

2. It turned into something like the Dorner manhunt where the cops were free-firing on anyone they *thought* was him...(truth be told, that's probably the real reason they locked down the city)

[flvegan]

100. The keyboard warriors of the Chairborne 360 are out strong today/tonight.

What would I have done differently in Boston?

I'd have renewed Papelbon's contract. Otherwise, they seem to have their shit straight in this.

[Zorra]

101. Advocated for free donuts, coffee, and pizza for the cops.

They really did do a great job. They didn't kill suspect # 2, casualties were limited, and they executed protocol perfectly.

I listened to the whole thing on the internet/scanner and it was really impressive.

And it kills me to have to admit that.

[nadinbrzezinski]

116. So you were the reason I was stuck listening to local

FD?

Just kidding.

The little I heard was good, and not your usual radio traffic

[TheManInTheMac]

102. Well, see, I'm not one much for doing anything, but I will complain about the ones who are.

[Hekate]

104. Thanks for asking that, Raven. I have not seen a good answer yet, so will peruse this thread eagerly

... to see what pearls of wisdom happen to fall from the minds of those who so vehemently criticized/opposed the actions of local law enforcers, the feds, and everyone else.

Glad you and the family are safe.

The shockwaves can be felt even in California. I'll be seeing a friend tomorrow -- she and her schoolteacher husband spent spring break in Boston with their son's young family, and as far as I know were there for the whole shebang. I dropped by her shop last week to get the word that all of them were back at the condo when the bomb went off, so breathed a sigh of relief for that.

Be well, Raven, and again -- thanks for challenging DU to think.

Hekate

[Renew Deal]

107. I think they did the best they could, and some things could have been done differently.

A lot of the issues are around media and information. There was too much information given out about the video and what was seen on the video. The bad guys knew they were done as soon as news of the video went out. It was a matter of time until they were caught. They shouldn't have announced the video until they were ready to release it.

The city of Boston should not have been "locked down" as the Boston PD put it. There was a fair amount of certainty that the 19 year old was in a very limited area around the previous nights shoutout. They could have contained that area (which they did). I think the lockdown sent a lot of bad messages.

Other than that, I think the cops did the best they could and they accomplished their goal. They captured the terrorist without any more casualties. A lot of those cops deserve credit for their bravery.

[rug]

108. I would have marched the entire population of Boston into the Commons in threes,

stripped search them and have two sing "God Bless America". The third would sing "Sweet Caroline".

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

110. please

don't give'm any more ideas!

[rug]

111. Welcome to DU.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

115. thank you, rug

I do appreciate the wit and wisdom here

[Knightraven]

112. Me?

"After the bombings,during the so called shootout,"? Run for cover.

"during the search for Suspect #2"? Hide till the police said it was clear.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

132. "Hide till the police said it was clear." Yeah, you would have.

But "Run for cover"? You? Really?

[nadinbrzezinski]

113. I am sure thy are asking this question

After action report.

Oh you mean those here doing Monday morning...my apologies

[Rosa Luxemburg]

114. We don't exactly know all the details

but they should have tasered the older brother - not killed hime. He would have had some valuable info.

[Hekate]

120. We don't know that they did kill him. It may have been suicide by cop, but also his bro ran over him

Yes, while escaping in the SUV, the younger brother ran over his big brother and smushed him bad. I doubt that tasering him would have helped, given that he had flung bombs/explosives out of the car as well as shooting to kill. You have to get within a certain range for a taser to work.

My impression is that the cops wanted them both alive for questioning if at all possible. They demonstrated a lot of professionalism.