Santa Fe’s bomb squad lacks enough manpower

Suspicious packages handled by state police unit in Albuquerque, which lengthens response time

Santa Fe police officers spent about three hours Tuesday afternoon helping evacuate the Social Security Office on Fifth Street, as well as nearby homes and businesses, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.

According to a police report released Wednesday, workers at the Social Security Office found a backpack left underneath a desk around 3 p.m., and no one knew who it belonged to. They were afraid to move the backpack because they feared it might be holding a bomb, the report says. A security guard called Homeland Security officials.

That agency reported the suspicious backpack to Santa Fe police, who in turn called in the New Mexico State Police bomb squad, deployed from Albuquerque. The bomb threat investigation, which came amid a series of

bombing attacks that rattled Austin, Texas, shut down Fifth Street for hours. The investigation ended around 6 p.m., according to a text alert from authorities.

The backpack was the second suspicious item found in a federal government building in Santa Fe in the past two weeks. On March 7, workers at the downtown post office, on Federal Place, called Santa Fe police about an unclaimed bag left on the counter, prompting a rush-hour shutdown. That time, too, the local department called state police for assistance.

In both cases, investigators found the suspicious bags were holding an electronic device, such as a laptop, but were harmless.

The incidents raised questions about why Santa Fe police had to call in a state police bomb squad, based in Albuquerque, to help investigate — a decision that led to a delayed response. The city for years deployed its own bomb squad to such incidents, along with a robot capable of X-raying suspicious packages, bags and briefcases.

“We do have our own bomb squad,” Santa Fe police acting Chief Andrew Padilla said Wednesday. “We’re trying to get it up and running.”

But, Padilla explained, the department now has only one officer trained to handle suspicious packages that could be holding a bomb; federal law requires explosive ordnance disposal officers to work in a team.

Soon, Padilla said, he hopes to have another federally qualified officer, which would allow the city department to handle its own bomb scares. Until then, it has to call in another agency for help.

While both incidents caused hourslong disruptions that might have been shortened by an inhouse response team, Padilla said the assistance from state police came at no cost to the city.

The city for years deployed its own bomb squad to such incidents.