1/29/2015 - NPD Facebook Post / Todays Bomb Threat - To evacuate or not
Hi All,
We had an incident today at the High School in which someone called and stated there was a bomb…We placed a few posts up on our facebook page, Web page and twitter account to try and keep everyone informed…which I think worked well (…based on most of the responses) …but, the main reason for this post is to explain some of the rational and consideration that is applied in why these type incidents are handled as they were today …and more specifically why students were placed in a “Code Yellow” status, meaning they were housed in the building with restricted movement…
…Some people commented that they did not agree with this, and that “the students should have been evacuated”, however – before making the decision to evacuate there is a large list of considerations that must be evaluated…
…first and foremost is the basic fact that it is extremely difficult to determine the difference between a hoax and the real thing…before the Littleton Colorado incident an estimated 90% of bomb threats were pranks, this of course must now be weighed with the reality that statistically there is an increase in more violent youth crime… The decision is not easy but it is made utilizing a wide array of known facts and circumstances and available resources… Make no doubt that all bomb threats are taken very seriously and know that each incident is unique…each must each be rapidly but carefully and systematically analyzed and investigated… of the many considerations that must be taken into account, here is a list of some:
Is there something going on that day like “senior skip day” or Exams that would prompt a hoax, have there been recent hoaxes at this facility or others close by, is there an unexplained student unrest, have there been any rumors floating about students threatening to harm others, how much information did the caller leave, where there any specific details (generally when more information is given these incidents tend to not be a hoax), did the caller repeat warnings (this can seriously escalates the possibility it is not a hoax), did the caller indicate that they had knowledge of the facility layout, have there been thefts in the area of explosives or explosives ingredients, etc… And the list goes on.
When making the decision to evacuate immediately or not to evacuate immediately, here is something to ponder, on the face it may appear that the preferred action would be to get everyone to out and to evacuate…however, know that by doing so it is very likely that you are placing everyone at greater risk as typically it is three times more likely that a bomb is planted outdoors rather than inside a building…for example, a bomber wishing to cause personal injury could place a bomb in shrubbery near an exit…know also that public areas within a school are the second most frequent place devices are located… so moving students and staff through hall ways to get them outside is not always a good option…Any evacuation that requires movement of the evacuee’s through lobbies, halls, playgrounds and parking lots might increase the risk of injury through detonation….
….Now, I cannot get into specifics about todays event as this is still an open investigation, but I can say this… The facts and circumstances of the incident today brought all of those involved in the decision making process to feel that it was safer to freeze movement within and secure everyone in place…Among those facts and circumstances considered was the availability of the Connecticut State Police Bomb Unit and K9’s and the fact that they were able to quickly respond to conduct a sweep the facility… with this being the case, the incident basically would have to go in one of two directions; 1) the bomb squad locates something that indicates there is the possibility of the presence of an explosive device …in which case a systematic and orderly evacuation would have taken place OR 2) Nothing is located that would indicate the presence of an explosive device and the building would resume to normal activity…. Which is what happened in this particular circumstance…
As stated, these incidents are taken very seriously…You can rest assured that those making these decisions are trained to deal with these types of scenarios and that the plans that are carried out are carefully orchestrated and systematically follow out based on all of the facts and circumstances that are presented.
…Protecting the lives of children, teachers and staff safe is the highest priority for the Naugatuck Board of education, Naugatuck Fire and Emergency services and the Naugatuck Police Department….
Thank you for listening…please have a safe and happy rest of your Thursday…We will be here if you need us…