Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told a Congressional hearing that Boston police were never informed of the 2011 Russian warning concerning Tamerlan Tsarnaev by the FBI.
Tsarnaev is one of the two brothers accused of planning the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Tsarnaev was killed in a firefight with police in the days following the bombing.
According to The New York Times Davis said he understood that intelligence from foreign countries is a sensitive matter.
"But when information is out there that affects the safety of my community, I need to know that," he said.
The hearing was being conducted by the House Homeland Security Committee headed by Rep. Mike McCaul, R-TX.
"We learned over a decade ago the danger in failing to connect the dots," McCaul said. "My fear is that the Boston bombers succeeded because our system failed."
The Russian report stated that Tsarnaev changed drastically, embraced radical Islam and attempted to connect with underground groups while in Russia, according to The New York Times. Davis contended that if the Boston police were aware of such details that officers would have "absolutely" taken a second look at Tsarnaev. Davis didn't place blame on the F.B.I. for not reporting the Russian report to him but was curious about what could have been done.
"I'm not ready to vilify anyone at this point in time, but there are questions that need to be answered," Davis said. "And I'm looking forward to the review of what occurred so we can get to the bottom of a lot of different questions."
McCaul, a former counterterrorism prosecutor, was adamant in pointing out that the United States needs to be careful not to downplay the danger of terrorism.
"From the attack at Fort Hood to the tragedy at Benghazi, the Boston bombings are our most recent reminder that we must call terrorism really for what it is in order to confront it," McCaul said. "You cannot defeat an enemy you refuse to acknowledge."
