Less than two decades ago, another sporting event in the United States was impacted by terror. Bombs were placed in areas the public were sure to assemble. One died in the blast, 111 were injured. And it took seven years for authorities to successfully apprehend the perpetrator.
The details of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing and last week's Boston Marathon attack are different. Eric Robert Rudolph, who was sentenced for the crime, planted the bomb in the middle of the night, and was not there when it detonated. Another major difference: If he had committed the crime today, with the advanced communications technologies we have, would he have been on the run for so long?
One of the lessons of this chaotic week is that advances in technology have completely changed the nature of a mass public crime scene. Everyone is a witness; everyone is plugged in to the Web.
Over the last week, here are the key pieces of technology that stood out:
Closed Circuit Television
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In 2005, London's extensive closed circuit television network was crucial for putting together the timeline of events that led up to the blasts. While Boston's system isn't as extensive as London's (which has one of the largest camera per capita ratios of any city anywhere), this past week proved there doesn't need to be a huge numbers of cameras to track a suspect. Cameras from the Lord & Taylor department store proved pivotal in nailing down the suspects..