CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This year, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has been called out 128 times to investigate suspicious bags, packages, and devices. One of those times was last week when someone reported what appeared to be a military-style claymore mine with the words "point towards enemy". Turns out, it was a replica.
While that was a false alarm, CMPD wants people to be vigilant when it comes to reporting possible or homemade explosives.
“This suit is about 85lbs," said Sgt. Chad Strong, showing off the heavy suit CMPD's bomb technicians have to put on when investigating a potential explosive.
"We call this this suit of ignorance because once you get in it the heat, the humidity, the weight, everything combined can kind of make you lose track of your thoughts," Strong said.
Strong said when going to investigate, the bomb techs are in it alone.
"Generally, we start a significant distance away from the device just to separate everybody up range from the danger of it," Strong said. "We call it the long walk, we go on the long walk by ourselves.”
Strong said it’s important people understand what they go through because the trend of lighting homemade fireworks is up.
"If we have a situation where people are making homemade fireworks, we will have to put this suit on," Strong said.
Explosive fireworks are illegal in North Carolina and Strong said homemade ones can be more dangerous and should be reported.
"With you not having the proper experience to manufacture, then you might not know how much of an explosive you’re putting in there and so you may not realize how much of an explosion you’re going to get,” Strong said.
In fact, Strong said people should report anything they feel could be a credible bomb threat.
"If you feel you don't know if you need to call, consider your surroundings,” Strong said.
If the questionable object is near sensitive buildings or major events, Strong said you should safely take a picture or mental notes for officers without touching it.
"What does it look like, how big is it, what size is it, where is it located, what color is it, did you see anything, smell anything, what sounds did you hear,” Strong listed.
CMPD said you will not get in trouble for alerting them about a bomb threat, even if you’re wrong.
"If you see something that just doesn’t fit we encourage you to call," Strong said.
It is, however, a felony to knowingly report a fake bomb threat or place a fake bomb as a hoax.
Contact Lana Harris at lharris@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram.