Motorola Solutions key in Boston marathon hunt
Schaumburg-based Motorola Solutions, which makes communications equipment for emergency workers, was a major player in helping first-responders in the Boston Marathon bombings and the hunt to apprehend the suspect, CEO Greg Brown said.
As the tragedy began to unfold, Motorola quickly sent equipment and staff to help Boston and Watertown police, firemen, paramedics, the FBI and other agencies, Brown said.
“It all worked like it should for the public safety and first-responders,” Brown said.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was apprehended after an intense weeklong manhunt and shootout following the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon last week. One shootout killed his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday the brothers might have been planning to bomb Times Square in New York.
When the terror began, Motorola service technicians were dispatched to Boston’s command center and to the Massachusetts State Police command center to provide 24/7, on-site support, said Motorola spokesman Steve Gorecki.
Motorola service technicians at the two sites helped set up MotoBridges, an interoperable communications gateway that allowed local agencies, like the Boston and Watertown police, Boston fire department, and others to communicate on different radio systems with federal and state agencies, including the FBI and the National Guard, Gorecki said.
The company also sent more than 200 public safety portable radio batteries and six radio battery chargers to assist in the investigation, Gorecki said.
“These were provided as part of a Motorola Public Safety Emergency order, an action taken by Motorola whenever there is an emergency, natural disaster or other crisis in which Motorola places these requests ahead of all other solutions being developed and then shipped immediately to these customers in emergencies,” Gorecki said.