By Edward L. Lee, II, CPP
Former federal agent and associate director of security in the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service
As U.S. and coalition forces continue to achieve success in neutralizing al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan, on the home front the U.S. Fire Service breathes a momentary sign of relief in that there were no new terrorist attacks in the U.S. during the holiday season, although public safety vigilance remains a constant.
Regardless of what fate eventually befalls Osama bin Laden–whether he is captured or killed–terrorist threats domestically will be a constant reality for first responders as we enter 2002. In this regard, it is appropriate that fire and emergency service managers be made aware of the changing philosophy in which telephonic bomb threat calls to high-rise office buildings are being handled by office building property managers.
In the “old days,”–pre-September 11–managers and owners of high-rise office buildings would often simply evacuate their buildings when a tenant or occupant received a bomb threat call (e.g., “Get out. We’ve placed a bomb in your building!”). Unfortunately, since the attacks on New York City and suburban Washington, property managers have become far more concerned about bomb threats than in the past, when most calls often were hoaxes.
In the current climate, though, particularly given the recession that the U.S. finds itself in, property managers are increasingly less reluctant to evacuate an entire building unless there is a very good reason for doing so (i.e., discovery of a suspicious bomb). Consequently, enlightened property managers have gone to reducing the number of public access areas in office buildings by installing electronic access control systems (e.g., card readers, cipher locks, and so on), establishing an escort policy for visitors, and designating search wardens on each floor (who would have the responsibility of directing selected staff to search for suspicious objects). In so doing, the risk of non-employees’ placing an improvised explosive device (IED) inside offices is significantly reduced. On the other hand, in a climate of increasing layoffs in the workplace, there remains the risk of an employee-introduced IED. This risk also is reduced, however, by having search teams trained in conjunction with a building crisis management plan.
In buildings occupied by multiple tenants, there is also a trend toward property managers’ installing multi-use public address (PA) systems in office buildings so that occupants and visitors can be advised of what action to take in an emergency situation such as a bomb threat. Often the term “bomb threat” is not used, but “emergency situation” is. Property managers are also retaining the services of security professionals experienced in bomb threat incident response, who carefully analyze the language, tone, and substance of telephonic and written threats. Often, security advisors may recommend the evacuation of only certain floors of an office building, depending on the nature of a bomb threat. Invariably, the more general the threat, the less likelihood that a genuine IED will be found. Conversely, the more specific the threat (i.e., “I’ve placed a time-activated bomb comprised of … in the paper towel dispenser in the women’s restroom next to the executive board room on the 8th Floor. It will detonate in 25 minutes.”), the greater the likelihood that an IED may be found.
With fewer public access areas in office complexes, with proactive designated search teams, PA systems for emergencies, and knowing whom to call when a suspected IED is found (i.e., knowing in advance which law enforcement agencies have bomb-detection and render-safe teams and their approximate response times), today’s property managers are better able to locate a suspected IED if there is one, and to avoid, in many cases, fully evacuating a high-rise office building, which may cost them $250,000 for a four-hour evacuation.
Unfortunately, though, not all property managers are so enlightened. Thus, many firefighter and EMTS managers may still have to contend with mass-evacuation situations.
A final note: In countries that have experienced high-casualty terrorist incidents in the past, hundreds of office workers occasionally were evacuated to a parking lot outside the high-rise building that had received a bomb threat. Terrorists then detonated a remote-controlled car bomb, killing hundreds of office workers who would have been much safer inside of the office building, where no IED was found.
Although most fire departments are not asked to respond to bomb-threat scenes in the absence of an IED detonation or activated incendiary device, knowing how property managers are changing their strategies for handling bomb threats may prove useful to scene managers, particularly where there may be a potential for a secondary attack following the detonation of an IED or the activation of an incendiary device.
