Bombs and Bombings: A Handbook to Detection, Disposal, and Investigation for Police and Fire Departments

Written by a 24-year member of the bomb squad of the Metro Dade Police Department in Florida, this volume explains the procedures used in processing commercial or homemade explosives, military explosive ordnance, suspected packages infernal machines, bomb scares, explosions, bombings, and similar incidents. The text does not describe how to construct lethal devices. It provides examples to explain the reasons for the procedures for disposal and investigation of bombs. It also emphasizes that the construction of the bomb or the infernal machine and the conditions of the emergency situation are usually unique; no single procedure can be used in each case without deviation. The guidelines that although experienced handlers who use all the accepted precautionary methods can minimized the risk of untoward incidents, no absolutely safe method exists for handling many items. Individual chapters explain explosive and bomb disposal services and training, bomb carriers, equipment, the definition and characteristics of explosives, explosives and bomb laws, bomb search procedures, bomb disposal procedures, the search and disposal of bombs in motor vehicles, evidence of explosives, and principles of bomb protection.