Col. Alben ’84 put his experience behind the Boston Marathon crisis.
Ed Deveau ’78 oversaw the capture of the marathon bombing suspect.
Col. Alben ’84 put his experience behind the Boston Marathon crisis
By Peter Miller ’84
Experience is the best teacher.
Col. Timothy Alben ’84, superintendent with the Massachusetts State Police, had the opportunity to test this theory when terrorists turned the finish line of the Boston Marathon into a crime scene on April 15, 2013.
Alben, who lives in East Longmeadow, is a 30-year member of the State Police and has worked every marathon since 2004. His duty at last year’s marathon was manning the starting line in Hopkinton; shortly after noon, after all runners had departed, he headed back toward Western Massachusetts.
“I first learned of the gravity of the situation in a call I received right after the bombing occurred from Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis,” Alben says. “I could tell immediately from his voice. He said, ‘Tim, we have several explosions at the finish line. I need your SWAT teams.’
“I directed a host of resources to Boston at that point and began to head east to the city,” he adds. “Upon arrival at the Westin Copley Hotel, I immediately joined Davis and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers in establishing a joint command to begin sorting through how we would collectively approach the massive investigation that was at hand.”
Despite the devastation at the finish line, Alben was able to stay focused on the investigation. His training, experience and education were put to the test.
“I’ve experienced natural disasters such as the tornado that struck Springfield several years ago, but not a terrorist event such as this. We participate in training scenarios on a regular basis…but this was the real deal, and we knew it,” Alben says.
The fact that many collaborating law enforcement agencies worked so well together in Boston didn’t surprise Alben. “I believe the history we have of joint operations paid enormous dividends,” he says. “Going back to 2003-2004, there have been many events in Massachusetts, and in Boston in particular, that frequently bring us together. Remember, after 9/11, nothing was ever routine again.”
What Alben took away from Marathon Monday was a sense that citizens need to begin to be more self-protective.
“I feel our nation moving away from a passive feeling of safety and complacency to a new awareness of our surroundings,” he says. “We are going to have to be more and more vigilant and aware of our surroundings. We’re all going to have to pay closer attention to what’s occurring on our streets, in our neighborhoods and most certainly at these large public gatherings. The expression, ‘If you see something, say something,’ has to become more than a catchy phrase. It has to become an accepted state of awareness and responsibility. The alternative is more events like Marathon Monday.”
Ed Deveau ’78 oversaw the capture of the marathon bombing suspect
By Evan Cirioni ’14
Ed Deveau ’78 was at the center of the manhunt for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev last year.
As the chief of police in Watertown, Deveau got heavily involved in the post-marathon chaos, after an MIT police officer was killed in Cambridge and Tsarnaev and his brother stole a car and fled into Deveau’s jurisdiction.
“Everything came to Watertown,” Deveau says.
The brothers initiated a gunfight with police officers and wielded improvised explosive devices and homemade grenades. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot by police, and in a desperate attempt to flee, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ran over his wounded brother. In the subsequent manhunt through Watertown, Deveau helped to coordinate police efforts and shut down the city and surrounding areas.
“Our department was challenged,” Deveau says. “Police officers were confronted with everything from a gunfight to bombs being thrown at them.”
The all-day operation led to the capture of suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had hidden in a boat parked behind a house on Franklin Street in Watertown.
Deveau says it was the proudest day of his 30-year career in law enforcement.
After the chaos had ended, one immediate thought that occurred to Deveau was that he wanted to run in the marathon this year. He previously ran the Boston Marathon in 1999, 2000 and 2007.
“A number of police officers are going to run it,” he says. “We want to be able to do that. The best thing anybody can do would be to come to the marathon and to show that no city as strong as Boston can be intimidated by terrorists.
“This can be the best marathon that has ever been held in Boston, and everyone should be a part of it,” Deveau adds.
