Case stud
secured. This was a direct result of several factors, including a combi-nation of command breakdown, inadequate proce-dures, and efforts by the ATF management structure to direct events from Washington. Although individual agents did seek out and perform necessary tasks, the command structure essentially ceased to function.
Turning to the FBI after the disaster, on the other hand, simply reinforced pub-lic perceptions of ATF incompetence among the media, politicians, and the public. . At a moment when brutal honesty and self-examination might have allowed managers to quickly respond to a disastrous situation, man-agers had chosen to believe what was comfortable. ATF’s lack of experience with high-profile events no doubt exacerbated the situation. In retrospect, man-agers should have assumed that reporters would fer-ret out any negative information and that self-serving assertions by on-scene managers would not give an adequate picture of events.
Information played a critical role in every phase of the Waco tragedy. ATF’s inability to process and analyze the intelligence data and the failure to convey data to top management set up the cir-cumstances. The misperception of the potential for a large-scale violent confrontation, based on past experience, moved agents one step closer. The misinterpretation of information during tactical planning put lives directly at risk. The leakage of information from ATF and the careless dispersal of information by members of the press created the immediate circumstances for the ambush. The fail-ure to comprehend and heed the last-minute warn-ings from the undercover agent robbed the managers of their last opportunity to avoid disas-ter. Once disaster struck, the courageous and art-ful negotiation by agent Cavanaugh saved numerous lives of both agents and children in the compound.
C. The ethical dilemma relies mostly on the upper management because they were the ones who knew what the consequences were for which people had to pay for with their lives. The lack of communication between the upper and lower management was a result of the upper management withholding crucial information.
D. Explain one example, found in the reading, of each of the following:
a. Internal/external communications (5%)
b. Inter-organizational communications (5%)
c. Ethical communications (5%)
d. Communication gap (5%)