bomb threat on a bus

[Byron]

When plan A fails resort to plan B lead poisoning and hero worship

OK................. Is this thread serious or a joke? People are pointing out gaping holes in your plan, and you are alternating between wise-cracks and sermons.

[Jay Cunningham]

Well, since its not posted in Romper Room, it's supposed to be serious. Proceed accordingly.

[barstoolguru]

OK................. Is this thread serious or a joke? People are pointing out gaping holes in your plan, and you are alternating between wise-cracks and sermons.

No sermons on the rock here just an open decision on how to handle a situation. A nice blanket way to handle everything is say call a cop and let them do it but let’s face it here in d/fw area there is 600 cops on duty at any given time for 5 million people; call a cop and sometimes it takes 20+ minutes. Add that you are on an interstate in the middle of nowhere it is going to be a lot longer.

We are talking about a man with a bomb; do I want to give him time to think? He makes a threat and who knows if here is serious!
OK… if a cop is on the bus what would he do; IMO he would get up and draw a weapon and make an effort to control the subject so why wouldn’t I? my life is in jeopardy and I have a right to defend myself

[Kyle Reese]

No sermons on the rock here just an open decision on how to handle a situation. A nice blanket way to handle everything is say call a cop and let them do it but let’s face it here in d/fw area there is 600 cops on duty at any given time for 5 million people; call a cop and sometimes it takes 20+ minutes. Add that you are on an interstate in the middle of nowhere it is going to be a lot longer.

We are talking about a man with a bomb; do I want to give him time to think? He makes a threat and who knows if here is serious!
OK… if a cop is on the bus what would he do; IMO he would get up and draw a weapon and make an effort to control the subject so why wouldn’t I? my life is in jeopardy and I have a right to defend myself

Just curious - do you have any firsthand experience dealing with the situation (or similar) you described?

There are just so many variables at play that can go terribly wrong.

A "real" suicide bomber will not stand up on a bus, announce his intentions to the world, give you time to be the hero.

Chances are he/she will simply detonate and vaporize the occupants of said bus.

The methods / TTP's used by the bad guys are ever evolving, and very rarely mirror bad 1980's action movies.

Also, what level of training / proficiency do you possess that would enable you to successfully handle such a situation, should it occur?

I'm not picking on you, I'm just curious.

[barstoolguru]

Just an average Joe but I didn’t know I needed special talents to stop a mad man from blowing up a bus

And If a cop got on the bus and took a shot at the BG and MISSED and killed a civilian would it make the screw up any less than a screw up then if I did it?

And just because it sounds like a bad 80’s movie doesn’t mean like it can’t happen and now because there are a lot more CCWer’s out there the probability has increased of someone taking out the BG, saving the day and getting the woman don’t you think? (Sorry I had to throw that in: cheap comic relief)

[JDM]

Believe it or not, training on how to deal with suicide bombers and the like is of real value in these instances. Someone willing to put on a vest made of Semtex and ball bearings is not going to respond to the production of a pistol the same way a gangbanger knocking over the 7-11 would.

Further, unless you are comfortable making 100% hits on a moving, low probability target up to 20 yards away, you may not want to get involved at all until it becomes glaringly apparent that no other recourse is, or will become available.

[jmjames]

Just an average Joe but I didn’t know I needed special talents to stop a mad man from blowing up a bus

And If a cop got on the bus and took a shot at the BG and MISSED and killed a civilian would it make the screw up any less than a screw up then if I did it?

And just because it sounds like a bad 80’s movie doesn’t mean like it can’t happen and now because there are a lot more CCWer’s out there the probability has increased of someone taking out the BG, saving the day and getting the woman don’t you think? (Sorry I had to throw that in: cheap comic relief)

I am fairly certain that SOP for a police officer in this situation is NOT to take a shot, but to call in specialists (negotiator? SWAT? etc.). Why? Because they aren't trained for it either.

The risk isn't merely about potentially missing the perpetrator and hitting someone else, it's about the potential for bringing the situation to the worst-case scenario, a bomb detonating.

J.Ja

[secondstoryguy]

The Israelis probably have a good bomber-on-bus SOP, they've had a bunch of practice with that type of thing.

[Joseph B.]

I can’t really speak for LE as I have very little training on the LE specific to dealing with bomb threats. However, the Army’s policy has always been to isolate, evacuate, collect Intel, and start to negotiate. I think that there are way too many variables to claim what one would or would not do.

That said seeing a guy trying light a pipe bomb on a bus would more then likely result in me shooting, however, just someone standing up saying “I have a bomb and I’m going to blow you all up” would make me want to asses all the scenarios, and the current situation. More than likely look for an opportunity to evacuate, or fortify a position for protection, etc.

But the amount of good advice in here is what the FBI would call a clue, a clue that your thought of being the hero, is probably not the best option in all situations. You may be more of hero to not attempt anything and keep a cool head and assist others in being calm. YMMV

[barstoolguru]

Wanna bet? That number isn't even close to correct. Combined, DPD and FWPD have over 4500 sworn officers. And that number doesn't include all the officers from the other agencies in the DFW area.

If you can't make your point without resorting to hyperbole, perhaps you should reconsider your position.

Yes I bet: I just called the Dallas police dept and they said they average 70 cops per station and there are 7 stations =490 cops in the Dallas area.
Farmers branch has 6 cops a shift and they could not say as for the other sub citys

so now we can say that the outlying areas of Dallas has let’s say 12 average (most are less) which is on the high side for the 9 sub cities =108 cops

so now add 15 for DPS (high too) gives us a grand total of 1103 cops for over 5 million people that is an average of 1 cop per 4500 people

hows that for "hyperbole"... I did say "here in d/fw area there is 600 cops on duty at any given time for 5 million people" not the total number of cops. I am doubling the number of cops for a combo of dallas and ftw together even though ftw is smaller with less cops

edit: I under estimated the number of people in the dfw area:
The 2010 official U.S. Census real counts has the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex at 6,371,773 so the # ratio is higher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas%...orth_metroplex