Posted by John Verrico, NAGC President-Elect
Suspect in custody. Officers sweeping the area. Stand by for further info.
— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston_Police) April 20, 2013
A
great sigh of relief went out in the Boston area – and across the country – this
evening with the successful capture of the second Boston Marathon bombing
suspect, Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev. Congratulations go to the incredible efforts of all the law
enforcement and emergency response personnel from the dozens of federal, state
and local agencies involved. Their efforts,
resulting in the death of one suspect and the capture of the other, were
nothing less than heroic.
plant explosion in Texas this week, also provide very clear examples of the
importance of government communicators. The public information officers of the involved
emergency response agencies played essential roles in getting critical
information to local residents that helped keep innocent people out of harm’s
way. They worked with media to reach the public, and engaged the citizenry in
direct communication through all sorts of social media channels.
There
is no doubt that there were also many, many government communications
professionals working behind the scenes to make all of these communications
possible, including unsung heroes such as social media managers, webmasters, and
speechwriters.
suburbs, government communicators engaged many thousands of people to collect
information and imagery that ultimately led to the identification and
apprehension of the bombers. And the public was eager to engage! Investigators received hundreds of hours of
video materials and more than a million photographic images and thousands of
tips.
The
information they received from these efforts provided the intelligence the
investigators needed to bring an end to a terrifying few days.
behalf of the National Association of Government Communicators, congratulations
to everyone involved. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims
of these events, and wish a speedy and full recovery for those who are still
suffering from injuries.
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