Crime & Safety

Melrose Policemen Respond to Boston Marathon, Watertown Scenes

Melrose Police officers assisted at the Boston Marathon and Watertown scenes last week.

Veteran Melrose Patrolman Alan Brown was one of four local policemen to respond to the Boston Marathon and Watertown crime scenes last week.

Brown, a 25-year veteran, serves as a member of the motorcycle unit for North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC). The motorcycle unit is comprised of about 40 officers, according to Brown.

Fifty-four Massachusetts communities comprise NEMLEC and commit resources to the team, including SWAT, RRT and motorcycle units. Each police department pays a fee to be a member and they have to contribute some of their manpower, according to Brown.

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Brown, who has been a member of NEMLEC since around 2003-2004, said he responded to both scenes with the motorcycle unit. He was first called to the Boston Marathon bombing site last Wednesday morning. The bombings near the finish line on Patriots' Day claimed the lives of three people and injured hundreds.

"The motorcycle unit was on standby the night of the bombing incident," he said. "Part of the unit responded to Boston the following morning at 6 and worked a 12-hour shift assisting the Boston Police.

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"We worked with the Boston (Police) Mobile Operations—they are motorcycle officers which are also their SWAT officers—and we were deployed throughout the city to different locations."

Working Downtown Crossing

Brown said he worked with a small squad of about six officers, including one Boston Police motorcycle officer, and was assigned to the Downtown Crossing area.

"At that point what we were there for was a high visibility presence, but their motorcycles are considered special operations and they are also SWAT officers so they perform two functions," Brown explained. "We did respond to a few assistance calls related to suspicious package, where we did traffic (control) and set up perimeters and shut down streets. That day we did it on two occasions.

"We also assisted with an incident on Tremont Street after someone stole something out of a store and there were a couple State Troopers on foot so we saddled up and went out to assist them, but when we got to their location they already had the person under arrest." 

Brown said he was also assigned to rolling patrols, which was primarily in the Downtown Crossing section of the city.

Presidential Motorcade

Brown, of Melrose, returned to Boston the following day for the Presidential motorcade security, where he worked again with the Boston Police motorcycle officers from their special operations division.

"Myself and another NEMLEC officer were assigned with two Boston motorcycle officers and we were put in different locations along the route as security when the roads were shut down," he said. "I was stationed on top of (Interstate) 93 on an overpass from the South Boston Connector that runs from the Convention Center up toward 93. 

"I got to see the motorcade as they turned right near us which was pretty nice to see that and be a part of that."

Once the motorcade got to the church in the South End, Brown said he assisted with the Michelle Obama's motorcade that went over to Brigham and Women's Hospital after the church visit.

Watertown Response

On Friday morning, Brown said he responded to a staging area across the street from the Arsenal Mall in Watertown.

"The motorcycle unit was staged there that day," he said. "Some of the members of the unit are from Waltham, Watertown and Belmont so they were actually working within their communities, but we were on standby and we thought we might be going into Boston but we were not sure at that time what we were going to be doing."

Brown said he took an interesting ride over to Belmont Police Station for a short period of time with a small group of officers. 

"That was an experience driving from Watertown to Belmont because there was no one on the streets at all," he said. "It was like after a storm. It was something you do not see very often. All you could see was the police while everyone was inside. It was an interesting experience."

The patrolman said he was on standby and did not haved direct involvement with the capture of the second bombing suspect, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, who hid in a Watertown resident's boat before eventually surrendering to police. His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed earlier during a shoot-out in Watertown.

. The bombing suspects also allegedly killed MIT Officer Sean Collier in Cambridge.

Leading the Way

On Monday, Brown said some officers assisted with the escort of Collier's family from the Wilmington-Billerica line to Stoneham for his wake and then escorted them back home.

On Wednesday, Brown said the motorcycle unit was responsible for escorting all the buses carrying police officers from north of Boston to and from Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington for Collier's memorial service.

A Look Back

Brown discussed the events that unfolded last week in Boston.

"Obviously it was a horrific incident," he said, referring to the marathon bombing. "It was very horrible. As much as we try with the security and I think we do a good job with the security, the police can not be everywhere. It is such a big event. Twenty-six miles of route to cover as far as security is concerned, I think the police in general do a good job with it. It was just a horrific event.

"I know security will be changed and approved for next year."

Digital Evidence

Brown said he thought it was wonderful the number of cameras that were able to provide images of bombing suspects to help investigators track them down so quickly.

"If this was 20 years ago, we would not have had all the pictures that law enforcement obtained for this investigation," he said. 

As far as the manhunt in Watertown was concerned, Brown said, "Being a member of the NEMLEC unit, we tend to be used more and more."

"I have worked in Boston quite a bit where we are not SWAT officers because we are not trained in that capacity," he said, referring to the motorcycle unit, "but we are a special unit of NEMLEC and they do have a SWAT team. To see the response that was there, it was very impressive. I have never seen a response like that anywhere in my career as far as in this state.

"Being at the staging area you got to see a lot of the support that was coming in. I remember seeing members from the Nashua, NH SWAT team, Nashua State Police SWAT team, Manchester, NH and Cape Cod (SWAT teams). It was impressive to see all the help that came in."

Last Friday, K9 officer and Patrolman Joe Donovan, Det. Greg Forestell and Patrolman Levi DiFranza responded to the crime scenes to assist with security, according to Brown.

While deployed in Boston and Watertown, Brown said Melrose Police Department and other police agencies were affected because they had to backfill shifts to cover for them which he was appreciative of and thanked his fellow officers for answering the call.


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