Handling Bomb Threats and Terrorist Threats

Facilities Check List
Practical, step-by-step guides for the busy FM
August 2002

Handling Bomb Threats and Terrorist Threats

While many bomb threats are simply misguided pranks, every threat should be taken seriously.

Because bomb threats usually occur by phone, tenants as well as managers should be coached on how to manage such a call. The following form can be used as guidance when handling a bomb threat phone call.

Should a tenant receive a bomb threat, he or she should immediately notify the management office and the police. The manager should mobilize his or her team and help police determine what, if any, portion of the property should be evacuated. The management team should know how to search the common, exterior, and vacant areas of the property.

Tenants and staff should pay particular attention to:

• Unusual boxes
• Packages with no return address
• Abandoned luggage, briefcase, bags
• Unusual bulky envelopes with strange markings
• Wires, strings, or aluminum foil protruding from packages
• Any package with a ticking or buzzing sound
• Sulfuric odors emanating from any package

The management team should first start their search with the floor on which the threat was received. Next the areas of the property most accessible to the public should be covered, such as:

• Exterior bushes around the building
• Dumpsters
• Parking garages
• HVAC units
• Signs
• Ornaments
• Ledges

First floor items and areas that should be searched will include:

• Plants
• Rest rooms
• Under/around seating areas
• Directories
• Ashtrays
• Trash cans
• Elevators
• Open rooms on the first floor, especially areas under construction

The management team must systematically search the building in a grid like fashion. Areas searched must be thoroughly done from floor to waist, from waist to neck, and from neck to ceiling.

Because the risk to human life is so great, responding to a bomb threat should be practiced periodically throughout the year. Tenant evacuations can be practiced through periodic fire alarm tests.

After the threat, and if an evacuation was ordered, the manager should return all tenants to the property and assure them the situation is under control. No unnecessary mention or public announcement should be made of the bomb; the less attention, the better.

If a bomb is found, the authorities should be the ones to handle it. The management team should only identify the package and not move or disrupt it.

While terrorist threats and activity are things for which there can be no specific response, it is vital to remain calm and obtain as much information as possible.

If your community has experienced, or is advised, that it is likely to experience terrorist activity, general safety precautions should be taken:

• Evaluate the property security system and (with the assistance of law enforcement agencies) instruct the property staff in awareness and reporting.
• Instruct receptionists and operators in the most effective ways to handle threats.
• Meet with local law enforcement agency(ies) and request recommendations.
• Meet with any high profile tenants (potential targets of terrorism) to understand their procedures to ensure there is no conflict with that of the building or property.

Any terrorist threat or activity should be reported immediately to local law enforcement agency officials, who will determine if any other agencies (at the state or national level) should be involved.

Do not at any time attempt to negotiate a terrorist threat; the responsibility of the management company is to obtain as much information as possible, to provide this information to the local law enforcement agency, and to then follow the instructions of the law enforcement agency.