Channel 2 gets inside look at bomb training for police

ATLANTA — Many times beat cops are the ones sent to suspicious package calls. The officers arrive to find some sort of package or container has been discarded or abandoned. But the officers who show up lack specialized training.

“Before the bomb squad gets out there [police officers] are tasked with this incredible responsibility of vetting all of these suspicious calls that come up,” said Lt. Andrew Senzer with the Atlanta Police Department.  ‘They need this [training], because they’re going to be the first on scene. They’re in the field, they’re the first in the fight.”

So Senzer came up with APD’s Tactical Field Officer Program. Only Channel 2 Action News’ cameras were there Tuesday afternoon when street cops learned what they could be faced with when responding to a bomb threat.

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“We really wanted to give them an understanding of how powerful these explosives could be. How these things are put together -- what to look for like: switches, conductors and containers. So when they show up on scene and they’re looking for threats,” Senzer said.

They’ve already dealt with threats this week like the bomb scares – at the Richard Russell Federal building on Monday, along Moreland Avenue Tuesday night, and Thursday afternoon along Inman Village Parkway.

“There is a big job that needs to be done before the tactical team arrives on scene,” Senzer said.

He told Channel 2’s Nefertiti Jaquez, his hope is to give these officers formal explosives training and quality equipment to match any new threats.

“Atlanta is really no stranger to bombings – we’ve had in Centennial Olympic Park, and the abortion clinic. So it’s not like it hasn’t happened here. It just hasn’t happened in a while, and we have to prepare for it,” Senzer said.

Cox Media Group