A study of efforts to stop and capture the Boston Marathon Bombing suspects had mixed reviews of law enforcements’ use of force, and other practices of police in Watertown.
The report led by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), was released this week, according to a report on Boston.com. See the full report by clicking here.
The first officers on the scene, all Watertown Police officers, “practiced appropriate weapons discipline while they were engaged in the firefight with the suspects.”
Some of that followed quickly afterward from a variety of departments however, fired without identifying the suspect and a times without first aiming, the report found.
In one incident that night, plain clothed State Police troopers were fired on when their SUV was misidentified as being stolen.
The report also found that the first shot fired at the boat in which suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was done without permission when he believed he saw movement in the boat. Other officers began firing afterward.
Another finding criticized police for parking all over the street, and thus blocking pursuit of Tsarnaev when he fled the scene in the Mercedes SUV.
The report also looked at response at the Boston Marathon finish line, shutting down of the MBTA and how hospitals dealt with the injured.