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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev— Case Archive
personpersonJoseph W. SullivanJoseph W. SullivanCivilian communications supervisor for Cambridge's emergency communications department.← All People
WitnessCity of Cambridge Emergency Communications Department

Joseph W. Sullivan

Civilian communications supervisor for Cambridge's emergency communications department.

Appeared2015 Federal Trial
49 lines·1 proceeding·1 mention

About

Joseph W. Sullivan testified for the prosecution on Day 32 about how Cambridge dispatchers used Mercedes' Mbrace tracking service to direct police toward a reported carjacked vehicle in Watertown. A civilian communications supervisor, he described dispatching a sector car after an MIT officer-down report and the response to a subsequent carjacking 911 call.

During Aloke Chakravarty's direct examination, Sullivan explained that dispatchers retrieved the vehicle's plate through CJIS and that he contacted Mbrace. He recalled an initial reported location of 87 Dexter Ave., which was broadcast to police units. He remained on the telephone for updated readings until officers arrived and, he believed, shots were being fired. He could not specify the system's exact accuracy and described nearby variations in its readings. His testimony concerned dispatch and tracking, rather than identifying the vehicle's occupants.

The court overruled Miriam Conrad's objection to the caller's statements while limiting their use to describing events, not establishing their truth. Sullivan then recounted the caller's description and the dispatchers' resulting actions. Defense counsel asked no questions.

Trial Record (1)

2015 Trial2015 Federal TrialJan 5, 2015 – Jun 24, 2015Called by prosecution

Joseph W. Sullivan testified about using Mercedes' Mbrace tracking service to locate a reported carjacked vehicle in Watertown and relay its location to police. He qualified his recollection and could not specify the system's exact tracking accuracy.

Day 32

DirectJoseph W. Sullivan — DirectJoseph W. SullivanAloke Chakravarty5highlightsMentioned49lines spoken

Summary

Sullivan described how dispatchers used Mbrace to locate the carjacked Mercedes in Watertown and relay its location to police.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

Highlights (5)

rulingThe court overruled the defense objection to Sullivan's account of the 911 caller's statements, explaining that the statements were not received for their truth but to describe the events.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightSullivan described retrieving the vehicle's plate through a CJIS name-and-date-of-birth search after the caller could not supply it, then contacting Mercedes Tracker to initiate tracking.Open in transcript →
Quote“Oh, yes. They're able to ping the vehicle and tell you where it is, but within a couple of -- I don't know how many yards or feet. But they can tell you where the vehicle is by pinging it.”— Joseph W. SullivanSullivan distinguished the ability to locate the vehicle from his uncertainty about the tracking system's exact precision.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightSullivan recalled an initial reported location of 87 Dexter Ave. in Watertown. He broadcast it on BAYPERN 3 while another dispatcher used Channel 1, and kept Mbrace on the line for nearby updated readings.Open in transcript →
Show all 5 highlights
Quote“I wanted to keep them on the line till we actually got the vehicle. I didn't want to have to hang up and have to go through the process again of retracking it so I stayed on the line with them, and they just gave us some updated coordinates -- they can bounce from 87 to maybe low 90s or maybe lower 80s as the officers were responding there.”— Joseph W. SullivanSullivan explained why he maintained contact with the tracking service and how the reported readings varied during the police response.Open in transcript →