Police use abundance of caution with suspicious packages
Better safe than sorry. That ’s the stance Niagara Regional Police Chief Jeff McGuire says the service takes regarding suspicious packages found in the community.
During his monthly Chat with the Chief webcast with Postmedia Niagara, McGuire outlined why heavy precautions are often taken when out-of-place objects are called in to police.
The topic arose following an incident at a Welland Avenue plaza Thursday, where an unusual-looking device was found by a passerby next to a public phone at the strip mall.
Police closed the parking lot and called out the NRP’s explosive disposal unit, which ultimately determined the object was a canister with a security lock attached.
While many suspicious package calls “turn out generally to be nothing,” McGuire said it’s important that the public continue to report them.
“Don’t not call us, because that will be the one time we have a problem.”
He urged people not to be complacent and to keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place.
“It could be a vehicle, it could be a box that’s left on a street corner, something near a public place,” he said, referencing one occasion when a suitcase was left under a tank on display at the local armoury.
“Nowadays, unfortunately, you just don’t know what they are.”
When police arrive to that type of scene, sometimes officers are able to simply have a look, “but often times it’s not worth that risk because you never know what’s in there,” McGuire said.
Instead, a specialized robot is often used “so we don’t have to risk life,” he said, adding the object when necessary can be blown up remotely by the NRP’s highly-trained explosives technicians.
Streets are often closed while police investigate to help ensure public safety.
While McGuire didn’t have statistics on hand, he did say the NRP gets dozens of suspicious package calls per year.
“Every month, (the explosives team) is going out somewhere for something,” he said, calling it a “challenging, changing time.”
McGuire said he “wouldn’t at all be surprised” if there was a spike in those types of calls in recent years given heightened awareness around the world.