Bomb Threats

[FireRanger]

I am researching information on how to respond to a bomb threat. At my site we are looking into updating the policy where need be. I remember from my time in the Army, that there are now "safe distances" that a radio or cell phone can be used compared to the location of a suspect device. If I remember correctly the distance varies with an IED and VBIED and the type of communication device being used (cell phone or radio). Does anyone know where I can find this information at? I found one source for Vehicles and that put the distance at 1,500 feet.

[SecTrainer]

I have references that vary all the way from 300 feet to 1750 feet, but personally I don't believe that even a half-mile (about 2600 feet) would offer any guarantees with today's radios - especially if it's clear line-of-sight distance. It's also worth noting that some people use antenna boosters on their cell phones and with some of them you can jack the power up as well.

I don't know how large your facility is, but unless it's very large and/or it would present overwhelming difficulties to do so, I'd be inclined to prohibit the use of all cell phones and radios by anyone at the facility until the situation is cleared.

One thing to remember about this is that there are often secondary devices. You might receive a warning about the location of the first device, but a second device might be located far away - for instance, where evacuees would gather. This means that even if people thought they were far enough away from the "supposed" location of the bomb to use their phone or radio, they might actually be standing right next to another device. This second device is the one that is usually actually intended to cause the real damage.

Communication by land line phones should be reasonably safe unless you have a particularly diabolical bomber. After all, even flipping a light switch during the search is a bad idea, and a phone ringer or handset switch could conceivably be rigged into a detonator circuit.

Oh, yeah - whatever prohibition you set up regarding radios and cell phones, make sure you include two-way pagers and wireless network devices.

[FireRanger]

I know about the secondaries, and sometimes a bomber will lie about the location of a bomb in order to get evacuees into the location of the bomb itself to inflict more harm. I figured the distances would be to little to work for my site. Thank you for your help though. On a side note, I think the distances were created not as a means to keep the radio from tripping the bomb (remember anyone with enough time and patience can figure out what freq we work off of), rather to keep personal safe from an explosion if it occured. I think that is why VBIED's require more distance then a smaller IED would.

[SecTrainer]

I know about the secondaries, and sometimes a bomber will lie about the location of a bomb in order to get evacuees into the location of the bomb itself to inflict more harm. I figured the distances would be to little to work for my site. Thank you for your help though. On a side note, I think the distances were created not as a means to keep the radio from tripping the bomb (remember anyone with enough time and patience can figure out what freq we work off of), rather to keep personal safe from an explosion if it occured. I think that is why VBIED's require more distance then a smaller IED would.

We seem to be talking about two different sets of distances - one set that pertains to EMF signals causing detonation of a bomb, and another set of "standoff" distances pertaining to avoiding blast-related injuries. These are totally different and have nothing to do with each other.

Here's a bomb response reference that includes VBIED "standoff" distances - takes a little while to load.

http://gbi.georgia.gov/vgn/images/portal/cit_1210/18/16/88296503Bomb_Tech_final.pdf

One thing, though, is that IED's can be as damaging as VBIEDs. There was an IED in England, for instance, that consisted of a trash dumpster. It contained as much explosive as a medium-sized car would have held. Another in Turkey (or possibly Greece) consisted of a filing cabinet containing as much explosive as a smaller car might hold. Until you get into the capacities offered by trucks, the fact that an IED is vehicle-born has more to do with the operational tactics employed to move the bomb into position than the explosive capability of the IED.

[Tactical_Hat]

Some good resources:

http://nsi.org/Library/Terrorism/bombthreat.html

http://www.dps.mo.gov/HomelandSecurity/safeschools/documents/ATF%20Bomb%20Threats%20and%20Physical%20Security%2 0Planning.pdf

http://www.state.tn.us/homelandsecurity/bomb_checklist.pdf

http://www.threatplan.org/

http://www.kennish.com/bombthreat/#3