Sept. 11, 2001: Remembering 20 Years of Those Who Have Served

Sept. 11, 2021: We are now at the 20th “anniversary” of 9/11. Let us hope and pray it is a peaceful day, not at all like that horrific day 20 years ago. As we all know, this appalling event remains a deep scar on our nation. As a member of INFORMS, I have been invited to write a small piece to remember and honor those who served on that day and those in public safety (police, fire, emergency medical) who have continued to serve for the past 20 years. In their dedication to us and our communities, many have died and many more have been injured – all in the line of duty.

Urban public safety has been a key focus of operations researchers for over half a century. The results have been many and profound. This research did not stop at writing papers and books but included developing close relationships with operating police and fire departments, with emphasis on getting new models and methods tested, refined and implemented. Early work in police and fire operations was recognized by the awarding of two Lanchester Prizes from ORSA (1972, 1975). Our profession’s ties to those who serve in emergency services have remained strong and are getting even stronger.

In the past 20 years, since 9/11, there have been nine Edelman Award and Wagner Prize finalists in public safety/emergency services. There have been more than 2,000 INFORMS journal and magazine articles on public safety, some of which are authored by senior analysts employed full time in public safety organizations, such as the New York City Police Department. All this represents a huge success for our profession and demonstrates the strong, close ties we have to those who serve in urban emergency services.

As some of you may know, the distant early years of my career at MIT focused in this area of urban emergency service systems: police, fire and emergency medical. Twenty years ago, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our profession’s flagship journal Operations Research, I was invited to write a reflective piece on my work, titled, “Public Sector Operations Research: A Reflective Journey” [1]. This paper cited 26 fellow O.R. professionals who had authored or co-authored papers dealing with urban public safety. The article was accepted for publication on Sept. 4, 2001. Exactly one week later, 9/11 happened. Like everyone else, I was stunned and deeply saddened. I decided to write the following epilogue to the submitted paper:

“Over the years, I have witnessed first-hand the immense bravery and professionalism of the men and women of New York City’s emergency services: police, fire and emergency medical (now merged with fire). The paper you have just read was accepted for publication on September 4, 2001. On September 11, our nation’s history was changed forever. A criminal band of suicidal zealots perpetrated outrageous crimes against humanity, with two of four hijacked airplanes being deliberately crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Approximately 3,000 innocent people were killed, from over 60 countries – representing all races, religions and ethnicities.

“Brave men and women of the New York City fire and police departments responded quickly to the first calls; the key goal: saving human lives. They saved many by their rapid and effective response. But when the Twin Towers suddenly fell, the NYPD lost 23 policemen and women, and the NYFD lost an astonishing 343 firefighters and paramedics. I join many millions of other Americans and hundreds of millions worldwide to extend my deep and heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the victims and their families.”

The paper, with epilogue, appeared in print in January 2002 [1].

Twenty Years Later

In the U.S., during the 20 years since 9/11, 1,546 firefighters and 3,243 police officers have died in the line of duty. Many, many more have been injured. The number of emergency medical personnel injured is estimated to be between 20,000 and 28,000 per year.

There have been attacks by terrorists subsequent to 9/11, one very close to my home – Boston, Cambridge and MIT. On the evening of April 18, 2013, on the MIT campus, 27-year-old MIT police officer Sean Collier was ambushed, shot and killed by terrorists. Three days before, on April 15 in mid-afternoon, the two terrorists deployed improvised explosive devices to kill and maim innocent onlookers near the finish line of the 117th running of the Boston Marathon. All New Englanders were shocked and pained by these events. We at MIT mourned the tragic loss of young Officer Sean Collier.

My friend and colleague, John DiFava, MIT’s Director of Security and Campus Police Services, describes his experiences, thoughts and feelings:

“During my time with the Massachusetts State Police I had the very unfortunate experience of being exposed to 17 line-of-duty deaths due to helicopter crashes, gun fire and motor vehicle accidents. Some of the deceased troopers I knew only informally, with others there were tighter bonds, and in one case it was a very close and personal friend. But each one left a deep and lasting impression. However, during my almost 47 years in this profession, nothing has affected me more than the murder of Officer Sean Collier.

“Perhaps it is due to the level of intimacy that a small department creates among its members. It could be a result of the brutal and senseless manner of his execution or simply after all these years, I am no longer able to process and deal with the loss of brothers and sisters in law enforcement. Whatever the reason, the loss of Sean Collier has affected me like no other. Never a day goes by that I am not saddened by his death, and he will remain with me the rest of my life.

“However, there is something else that I am always reminded of connected with Sean – the amazing support that the MIT community provided to our department, which continues to this day. The entire community rallied around us, shared the burden of our grief and above all made sure Sean would never be forgotten. Without the MIT community, Sean’s death would have been impossible to bear.”

Can you imagine how the many diverse communities in New York City felt 20 years ago after the sudden tragic deaths of 343 firefighters and paramedics and 23 police officers? At this time in our nation’s history, we need to stop and pause, reflecting not only on that one tragic day 20 years ago but also on all the days subsequent, when our public safety professionals have risked their lives for us. And like Officer Sean Collier, some of those precious lives have been taken.

How to honor and thank these professionals? In your community, how about going up to one or more public safety professionals, and simply say, “I want to thank you sincerely for your service to our community.” That will mean a lot to these dedicated men and women. 

You could also donate to related focused charities, such as the Officer Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund (https://officercolliermemorialfund.org). Survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing created the ongoing One World Strong Foundation (https://www.oneworldstrong.org), focused on helping survivors and their families of terrorist attacks, hate crimes and other traumatic events. In New York, 9/11 led to the creation of the Tunnel to Towers Foundation (https://t2t.org). I strongly recommend you read about the heroic actions of NYFD Firefighter Stephen Gerard Siller on Sept. 11, 2001 (https://t2t.org/stephens-story/). That day, off-duty firefighter Siller – dedicated family man with five children – went to his Squad 1 station, strapped 60 pounds of gear on his back and raced on foot through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, which for security purposes had already been closed to vehicles, and raced to the Twin Towers. He lost his life on that day. The Tunnel to Towers Foundation, named after his dedicated trajectory that day, raises funds to purchase mortgage-free homes for fallen first responder families with young children. They also build smart homes for many catastrophically injured veterans.

In thinking of 9/11, we realize we are all New Yorkers. After the Boston Marathon bombing, we are all Bostonians (“Boston Strong”). And with the past 20 years to reflect, we are all Americans committed to helping and supporting each other.

We have a unique way to contribute as part of the in the O.R./analytics community. With our 50+ years of contributions to urban public safety, we can build on that strong foundation to create even better data-informed methods and procedures for public safety professionals to do their difficult work – effectively, efficiently, equitably and with minimal risk to both themselves and the citizens whom they serve.

Editor's note: This column was accepted for publication on Aug. 25, 2021, prior to the recent bombing in Afghanistan.

Reference

1. https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/pdf/10.1287/opre.50.1.132.17784