Bomb squad called

[4wheelin_fool]

It sounds like the officers don't have too much to do in that area. They could send some help to Philadelphia. Last year 334 people were murdered, however over 150 of the killings remain unsolved. With a 55% conviction rate for the worst crime known, playing with a plastic container on a guardrail seems a bit non productive.

[+Don_J]

If MPD had been in contact with all resource's this incident would not have gone so far.

There has to be a limit to how far they need to go, though. Do they need to contact the local Boy Scout troop to make sure it isn't something they left there? To "contact all resources", they'd have to.

 

As others mentioned earlier, and have mentioned in other similar discussions, once something is called in as a bomb, it's extremely rare for the LEOs to not follow through as if it's really a bomb (read: bomb squad whacks it). Some say it's caution, some say it's just a chance to practice, some say it's to justify the bomb squad's existence. Whatever the reason, if it's called in as a bomb, even if the CO goes down there and tells them it's a cache, they'll most likely continue to treat it as a bomb.

 

Never certain of what is true, but comments on the news story from the locals suggest that Mr. Neighborhood Watch called in a drug drop and it was the police decided it may be a bomb. At any rate, the police around here do not use terms like "bomb scare". They are simply "investigating a suspicious object/package". In my city, which is geographically huge and has over 3 million residents, our police do this several times a day and sometimes it does escalate all the way to the bomb squad. It's very rare that they ever actually find a geocache, and even rarer that they blow something up, or pulverize it with a water cannon. I remember a classic post by Mr Riffster where he detailed how many levels of escalation it takes to get his local bomb squad on the scene and how that escalation can be stopped at any level. I would expect that with this incident, at some level, someone would decide that they were dealing with a plastic food container that more than likely was filled with drugs and stop the escalation. I guess that didn't happen.

Edited March 2, 2013 by Don_J

[+tygerkat]

We will be disabling and archiving many of our placed caches.

Edited March 2, 2013 by tygerkat

[+Wadcutter]

As others mentioned earlier, and have mentioned in other similar discussions, once something is called in as a bomb, it's extremely rare for the LEOs to not follow through as if it's really a bomb (read: bomb squad whacks it). Some say it's caution, some say it's just a chance to practice, some say it's to justify the bomb squad's existence. Whatever the reason, if it's called in as a bomb, even if the CO goes down there and tells them it's a cache, they'll most likely continue to treat it as a bomb.

You are correct. Once something is called in as a possible bomb that's the way it has to be treated. Why? What if they just assume it's a cache, walk away but it's not? Guess who gets stuck with the liability on that one? That's right, the police. And who pays for any law suits resulting for mishandled calls? You do, the taxpayer. But whose career goes down the toilet when the wrong call is made and innocent people are injured or worse? It won't be some internet "expert". And guess who will be yelling the loudest? It's the "experts" who think they know all there is to know about law enforcement and bombs because they watch every episode of CSI.

And for all the "experts" who wonder who would place a bomb in a cemetery here's some statistics to think about. For every bomb that is set off the bomber has on average practiced with at least 10 others in remote locations prior to setting off the one that is located. Every bomber you've ever read about and all of those you never heard of make practice devices until they perfect what it is they're trying to build. McVey and Oklahoma City? He made several practice bombs. Some worked, some didn't. Some were left in the desert and found by innocent people. The Olympic Park bomber? Numerous practice devices which many did not detonate and were later found in secluded sites. Of the 10 they set for practice on average only 1/2 actually go off. What happens to the others? They just leave them because they know it's not safe to walk back up to their failed ones. You never know where or who will find these abandoned and failed bombs. Nor do you know if the failed ones are still dangerous and could still go off. They're out there. We get calls on them all the time. Just because you don't read about them in your local newspaper doesn't mean they aren't there.

The world is full of "experts" who think they know all there is to know about law enforcement because they watch made for TV junk shows and somehow that instills in them what they think is knowledge. People will say "It doesn't look like a bomb." Yeah, so what's a bomb look like? They think all bombs look like something built by a cartoon rabbit or coyote. If it doesn't look like a pipe, has wires, or a clock they think it can't be a bomb. I've seen bombs inside ink pens that would take off a person's hand. Seen them the size of a credit card. Seen them inside TVs. Saw them in coffee cans. Seen them in regular mail envelopes. Look around your house and a bomb could be made to look like anything in your house.

[+Planet]

As others mentioned earlier, and have mentioned in other similar discussions, once something is called in as a bomb, it's extremely rare for the LEOs to not follow through as if it's really a bomb (read: bomb squad whacks it). Some say it's caution, some say it's just a chance to practice, some say it's to justify the bomb squad's existence. Whatever the reason, if it's called in as a bomb, even if the CO goes down there and tells them it's a cache, they'll most likely continue to treat it as a bomb.

You are correct. Once something is called in as a possible bomb that's the way it has to be treated. Why? What if they just assume it's a cache, walk away but it's not? Guess who gets stuck with the liability on that one? That's right, the police. And who pays for any law suits resulting for mishandled calls? You do, the taxpayer. But whose career goes down the toilet when the wrong call is made and innocent people are injured or worse? It won't be some internet "expert". And guess who will be yelling the loudest? It's the "experts" who think they know all there is to know about law enforcement and bombs because they watch every episode of CSI.

And for all the "experts" who wonder who would place a bomb in a cemetery here's some statistics to think about. For every bomb that is set off the bomber has on average practiced with at least 10 others in remote locations prior to setting off the one that is located. Every bomber you've ever read about and all of those you never heard of make practice devices until they perfect what it is they're trying to build. McVey and Oklahoma City? He made several practice bombs. Some worked, some didn't. Some were left in the desert and found by innocent people. The Olympic Park bomber? Numerous practice devices which many did not detonate and were later found in secluded sites. Of the 10 they set for practice on average only 1/2 actually go off. What happens to the others? They just leave them because they know it's not safe to walk back up to their failed ones. You never know where or who will find these abandoned and failed bombs. Nor do you know if the failed ones are still dangerous and could still go off. They're out there. We get calls on them all the time. Just because you don't read about them in your local newspaper doesn't mean they aren't there.

The world is full of "experts" who think they know all there is to know about law enforcement because they watch made for TV junk shows and somehow that instills in them what they think is knowledge. People will say "It doesn't look like a bomb." Yeah, so what's a bomb look like? They think all bombs look like something built by a cartoon rabbit or coyote. If it doesn't look like a pipe, has wires, or a clock they think it can't be a bomb. I've seen bombs inside ink pens that would take off a person's hand. Seen them the size of a credit card. Seen them inside TVs. Saw them in coffee cans. Seen them in regular mail envelopes. Look around your house and a bomb could be made to look like anything in your house.

 

Yikes. Now I think I might be wary of caching!

 

Not really. But this is certainly food for thought.

[+WeeLurk]

I'm sorry that this is happening to you guys. Sounds like it is one of the situations that could happen to any of us since we all have guard rail hides. I hope that it just blows over and you can continue to enjoy geocaching. I feel like I will be a little more cautious about hides in the future because of this.

[+Planet]

Well. No. We don't ALL have guardrail hides. I would not even approach the DOT for permission for one because I doubt they would permit it, and then they might actually look into it, and it opens a can of worms here. And I've seen how bad some people drive, there's an element of danger. And, as we've seen, it's too easy to be stopped and questioned by law enforcement when you're acting suspicious by the side of the road.

I once thought about hiding one, just so I could call it "Pardon me, does this cache make my butt look fat?" but common sense tells me not to do it. There are so many better places to hide a cache. You have to think of the position you are putting cache seekers in when you hide a cache. Having my friends detained by law enforcement while they are at play is not one of my goals in life.

[+Don_J]

I'm sorry that this is happening to you guys. Sounds like it is one of the situations that could happen to any of us since we all have guard rail hides. I hope that it just blows over and you can continue to enjoy geocaching. I feel like I will be a little more cautious about hides in the future because of this.

 

Really? I can honestly say that I don't expect that this could ever happen with any of my hidden caches. Unless of course the bomb squad wants to put on some hiking boots.

[Mr.Yuck]

I'm sorry that this is happening to you guys. Sounds like it is one of the situations that could happen to any of us since we all have guard rail hides. I hope that it just blows over and you can continue to enjoy geocaching. I feel like I will be a little more cautious about hides in the future because of this.

 

Really? I can honestly say that I don't expect that this could ever happen with any of my hidden caches. Unless of course the bomb squad wants to put on some hiking boots.

 

Well Don, I think he may have hit the nail on the head. Even the obnoxious hiking boot, wearing Mr. Yuck has hidden two caches on Guardrails. Of course one was in a gas station parking lot with permission of the owner, and was a spoof of parking lot micros.

 

Now if someone ever makes the statement we all have lampskirt hides I might be a little upset.

[+Manville Possum]

I'm sorry that this is happening to you guys. Sounds like it is one of the situations that could happen to any of us since we all have guard rail hides. I hope that it just blows over and you can continue to enjoy geocaching. I feel like I will be a little more cautious about hides in the future because of this.

 

Really? I can honestly say that I don't expect that this could ever happen with any of my hidden caches. Unless of course the bomb squad wants to put on some hiking boots.

 

Well Don, I think he may have hit the nail on the head. Even the obnoxious hiking boot, wearing Mr. Yuck has hidden two caches on Guardrails. Of course one was in a gas station parking lot with permission of the owner, and was a spoof of parking lot micros.

 

Now if someone ever makes the statement we all have lampskirt hides I might be a little upset.

I have a lampskirt hide, but guardrail hides are banned in Virginia on VDOT property.