March 26, 2011 Federal security officer “stored”suspicious packages that WAS a bomb! www.privateofficer.com
Detroit MI March 26 2011 A security officer at the McNamara Federal Building stored a suspicious package that turned out to contain a bomb for three weeks before alerting authorities, said a spokesman for a union that represents guards at the site, who called the incident “a total embarrassment.”
“He apparently set it aside,” said David Wright, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 918, which represents the Federal Protective Service (FPS) employees, who guard the McNamara and other federal buildings around the country.
“It should have been left in place and he should have called in a canine detection unit to see if they could make a determination about it,” he said Tuesday.
The package was eventually placed behind two dumpsters behind the McNamara Building on Michigan Avenue downtown around 10 a.m. Friday. The Detroit Police Department’s bomb squad collected the device from there and moved it to Belle Isle, where it was detonated.
An official with the FBI office in Detroit said Tuesday that the device was sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., for further testing.
“Our priority is determining exactly what it was and who left it,” said Sandra Berchtold, Detroit FBI special agent.
The contracted security guard has been suspended, said an official with the Washington, D.C., office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday.
“The FPS will continue to review the circumstances of this incident and take appropriate action with the contract service provider to ensure that proper protocols are followed,” said Chris Ortman, a spokesman for Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.
Wright called the incident “a total embarrassment.”
He added that his union has been pushing to “federalize” contract guards at federal building for several years.
“The intent would be for the guards to be better trained and more accountable,” said Wright.
Source:detnews.com
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