The Jackson Police Department (JPD) Bomb Unit was unofficially established in the 1960s when soldiers returned from the Korean War having worked in military EOD units. In the early 90’s, JPD sent their first Public Safety Bomb Technician candidates to the FBI’s Hazardous Devices School (HDS) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL. After the attacks on 9/11, the FBI standardized the training of all federally accredited Bomb Units. This requires all Units to have the same baseline training and equipment. In the event there is a large scale attack all teams are meant to be interoperable with one another.

The primary training course at HDS is a 6-week immersion course that covers everything from basic demolitions to full scale robot and manual rendering safe of devices. Through a combination of written exams and practical exercises, the student is tested on all aspects of being a public safety bomb technician. Advanced training is offered from the FBI, the ATF, many other government agencies, as well as the private sector. Units are required to train a minimum of 24 hours a month with at least 40 hours of continuing education (advanced training) annually.

The JPD Bomb Unit is a regional response team covering 17 counties in EMA Districts 9 and 10. Over the last 5 years, the team has handled between 25-30 call per year. These calls are anything from suspicious packages to recoveries of explosives (military, commercial and improvised). We also help with large scale events and dignitary protection. The team is currently made up of 5 collaterally assigned team members. Staffing levels are set by the FBI based on the size of coverage area and calls for service each year.

Another key responsibility of the Unit is the training of other first responders as well as the general public. Being a regional team, we rely on the other departments in the region to give us accurate information when we are responding to their jurisdictions. The general public is typically the first to come into contact with any of the situations that would require our response. So in order to minimize the risk to the general public and first responders, we are responsible for giving them the training that they might need in order to ensure the situation is safely handled from beginning to end.