• Login
• My Profile
• Help

Search

Products Police Products Accident Reconstruction AEDs AFIS Ammunition Antennas Apparel Badges Bags and Cases Ballistic Shields Batons Bicycles Biometrics Body Armor Books and Training Materials CAD Cameras Cargo Storage Collectibles Communications Communications Interoperability Computer Forensics Concealable Armor Consoles Correctional Armor Corrections Products Crime Scene Investigation Crisis Communications Data/Information Sharing Software Dispatch Equipment DNA Forensics Duty Boots Duty Gear Emergency Lighting Emergency Preparedness Emergency Response Emergency Response Software EOD Evidence Management Eyewear False Alarm Management Financial Services Firearm Accessories Firearms Firearms Storage Fitness Flashlights Footwear For Cops, By Cops Forensic Supplies Gas Masks GIS/Mapping Software Gloves Gun Cleaning Gun Racks Handguns Headsets Helmets Holsters In Car Video Investigation Investigation Software Jail Management K9 Police Training K9 Products Knives Laser Sights Laser Traffic Enforcement Less Lethal License Plate Readers Light Bars Medical Supplies Mics Mobile Computers Mobile Data Motorcycle Accessories and Gear Motorcycles Mounts Night Vision Outerwear P25 Radios Partitions and Barriers Patrol Cars Personal Protective Equipment Personal Shields Personal Transportation Vehicles Police Robots Power Distribution Precision Rifle Prisoner Transport Projectiles and Launchers Public Safety Software Public Venue Protection Push Bumper Radar Radio/Wireless Networks Radios Report Writing Software Restraints Riot Gear RMS Satellite Communications Scheduling Search and Rescue Secure Communications Shooting Range Equipment Shotguns Sights and Scopes Simulation Software Sirens Software Specialty Vehicles Sprays and Aerosols Stinger Stun Guns Storage Surveillance Tactical Apparel Tactical Armor Tactical Entry Tactical Eyewear Tactical Footwear Tactical Headsets Tactical Medical / TEMS Tactical Products Tactical Video TASER Technology Thermal Imaging Traffic Enforcement Training Training Gear Training Products Training Services Training Simulators Undercover Undergear Uniforms Vehicle Equipment Vehicle Graphics Vehicles Video Analysis Video Surveillance Weapon Lights Wire Tap Systems Wireless Communications Wireless Handsets Wireless Networking WMD Equipment

• PoliceOne Email

Sponsors

Explosives - EOD Resources

Bomb Threat Mitigation Grant Resources Provided By LDV, Inc. The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism US Cavalry WMD First Responders More Links Submit A Listing

Featured Product Categories

Flashlights Tactical Entry Projectiles and Launchers Laser Traffic Enforcement Personal Transportation Vehicles View All Categories

Explosives - EOD Products

Featured Product:

Wolverine - Outdoor, All-Terrain Workhorse From Remotec

Explosives - EOD Article

February 09, 2007

EmailPrintTalk BackRegisterWhat's This

WMD and Bomb Disposal Issues with Shawn Hughes

Bomb Tech weighs in on ad campaign turned "bomb scare"

Relative to other countries, we in the United States have enjoyed a history devoid of turbulence in the Homeland. We’ve fought mostly on other shores. We haven’t had 20 years of car bombs like the British. We haven’t had a thousand years of invaders like Europe, or five thousand of warring religious factions like the Middle East.

So, in this light, we are still in the “feeling our way around” phase.

Enter the Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Ignignokt sign closeup (from the net)

Who, you may ask?? The Aqua Teens (or ATHF for short) are an animated trio whose hijinks I have thoroughly enjoyed for many years now. So, imagine my amusement to find a guerilla campaign to promote this show (as if it really needed it within its demographics).

An advertising company made illuminated signs in the shape of one of the show's minor characters, and stuck them in strange places all over the country.

The result? Two in jail and several signs successfully disrupted.

There are a lot of people right now panning the actions of the police, and Bomb Technicians aren’t being cast in a favorable light. I will say that I don’t entirely agree with all of the assessments made, but let's look for a second at what really happened:

An officer on routine patrol or a concerned citizen noticed something they considered suspicious.

Hazardous Devices Units country-wide started responding almost simultaneously to reports of suspicious objects affixed to critical structures; bridges, buildings. Upon arrival, they found an item (that’s right, anything with parts that does something is a device, not an item) they hadn't seen before, either as a bomb or as a legit product.

Investigating further, they could find no apparent purpose for it, but they could find a power supply and timing circuitry.

So now you have an "unattended package affixed to a sensitive structure with a power supply and a timing circuit."

See how perspective can change things? In this light, I can absolutely make a case for energetic disruption being the order of the day. But I also know what Ignignokt (the name of the character on the sign) looks like. No matter, history is replete with bombs concealed in toys, valuables, or other innocuous items.

In other words, the system worked as it should.

So, before you all go poking fun at your Techs, take a second to look at it from their side.

---

Shawn Hughes is a sometimes controversial veteran Patrol Officer and Bomb Technician who now consults for various agencies and private corporations when he isn't writing or teaching. In addition to PoliceOne, his articles have appeared in other national publications such as the NTOA's Tactical Edge, the IABTI's Detonator, Police, S.W.A.T., Frontline First Responder and others. His second book, this one on physical security vulnerabilities, is due out shortly. He can be reached at srh@esper.com .

---

Back to previous page