Leadership Lessons from the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings

Introduction

On April 15, 2013, Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, two Kyrgyz-American brothers, detonated two homemade bombs at the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring an estimated 264 attendees. Although this high-profile domestic terrorism attack claimed a number of casualties, most observers agree that the outcome could have been far more severe had it not been for the preparations and actions taken by law enforcement and first responders prior to and immediately after the incident. The purpose of this paper is to identify salient issues relating to leadership, decision-making, organizational culture, communication, politics and power, employee training, and teams, in order to identify best practices and lessons learned from this horrific incident. A summary of the research and key findings concerning the security preparations for and responses to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings is provided in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

Although Lasky (2014) emphasizes that the 26 miles covered by the Boston Marathon made the provision of security especially difficult, the impact of the terrorist bombings on the event would likely have been far worse had it not been for the extensive prior planning involved. Moreover, civic leaders in Boston, together with law enforcement authorities, provided the overarching leadership that helped develop protocols minimizing the potentially devastating effects of the two homemade bombs. For instance, Lasky (2014) points out that "one outcome of reviewing the incident discovered that the pre-positioning of medical first responders for the marathon greatly helped in the triage efforts for victims on the scene" (p. 2).

Although this change appears intuitive, it is important to note that previous marathons and other public events were handled quite differently — first responders actually waited until law enforcement authorities arrived on scene before taking action. In this regard, Lasky (2014) reports that "in the past, as a matter of emergency medical services protocols, medical first responders waited for law enforcement to clear arrival before they responded. The pre-staged medical services on the scene may become more standardized for security planning at future public events" (p. 2). Furthermore, the Boston mayor assumed an important leadership role by ensuring that planning for the re-opening of one of the most seriously affected streets was achieved in a timely fashion (After action report for the response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, 2014).

The importance of this key lesson cannot be overstated. Lasky (2014) makes clear that it required the careful coordination of police, emergency management teams, firefighters, and medical personnel beforehand to ensure that resources needed to respond to unforeseen eventualities were readily available. This coordination involved a number of local, state, and federal agencies, and an umbrella organizational culture that placed a high priority on intelligence gathering and a high state of preparedness (Lasky, 2014).

This coordination also underscored the need for a unified command characterized by strong relationships between key stakeholders. As the After action report for the response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings (2014) noted in its executive summary of lessons learned, "strong relationships created and maintained by key leaders were paramount to ensuring commanders, agency heads, and political leaders came together quickly to form Unified Command and facilitate collaborative decision-making after the bombings in Boston and during the manhunt" (p. 9).

Conclusion

The three fatalities and dozens of injuries caused by the bombings of the 2013 Boston Marathon were truly tragic, and the perpetrators have been captured and punished. Nevertheless, the criminal justice to which these terrorists were subjected will not necessarily deter other homegrown terrorists from attacking innocent people in the future, since radicalized individuals are often prepared and willing to die for whatever misguided cause compels them to act. While it is impossible to predict unexpected attacks of this nature, it is possible to develop contingency plans and deploy the emergency response resources that will be required should they occur — and this is precisely what happened in Boston, thereby minimizing the effects of this terrorist attack. There were some important lessons learned, however, including the need for additional weapons training and a unified command structure to better coordinate emergency responses.

References

After action report for the response to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. (2014, December). Boston: Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency et al.

Lasky, S. (2014, April 21). Boston Marathon a case study in lessons learned following last year's bombing tragedy. SecurityWatch.