Did they over-react?

[anotheoldgit]

This is regarding a bus on which a passenger saw smoke coming from a fellow passengers bag and contacted the police.

The bus was stopped on the M6 toll motorway, and surrounded by Armed officers, troops, fire-fighters, ambulances and bomb disposal experts.

This was discussed this morning on the Nick Farrai show LBC radio who seemed to think they had over-reacted, and he nearly burst a blood vessel when a caller disagreed with him.

He attempted to shout the caller down by shouting "IT WAS JUST A HARMLESS ELECTRONIC SMOKING DEVICE FOR GOD'S SAKE" and that the police could have sent along a patrol car with a couple of officers, one who could have entered the bus and approached the passenger and say "excuse me sir do you mind telling me what you have in your bag"?

Yes that would have been all right if they had knew it was only a harmless electronic smoking devise, but they didn't, and if it had been something more sinister the lives of the buses passengers, along with the police officer could have been at risk if not immediately, but certainly by the time all those emergency response teams had finally arrived at the scene.

All very well to be wise after the event, Mr Farrai.

But what do fellow ABers think?

[seadogg]

Its not easy for anyone not involved with an organisation dealing with people in real or imagined danger to imagine the pressures on a controller.

[Mick-Talbot]

The scare was caused by a passenger who anonymously called police to tell them they had seen smoke coming out of a bag which another traveller was holding on an early morning Megabus from Preston to London.


I'm confused ......

they had seen smoke coming out of a bag which another traveller was holding


can you see why?

[joko]

i would be interested to know what kind of bomb causes smoke BEFORE it has detonated, and what kind of bomb would not be detonated by the close presense of a smoking flame...
an overreaction obviously, but someone expected and undertsandable these days... better safe than sorry i suppose

if this smoking bag was reported and police attended and the whole bus went up and killed everyone - you would all be on here wanting the person responsible for NOT sending the bomb squads head on a platter....

[Mick-Talbot]

So someone is HOLDING a bag that was smoking .....did this someone fail to notice the bag they were holding was smoking ?

I can not understand how it got as far as it did.

The police also missed a good opportunity to shoo... er taser a few smokers.

[DTCwordfan]

Nope generically - unless that goat the Archbish of Canterbury was involved - if that was the case, I would strip the bus.