Searching and Evacuating Property

If you receive a bomb threat, you will have to decide whether to evacuate the property immediately, or to search the property first and then move everybody out if you find something suspicious.

If you have any reason to believe that there is a bomb you should ask everyone to leave immediately. If not, you may wish to search for the bomb first before you consider evacuating the property.

The police will not normally search your property for you. They probably won't know the layout and the places where a bomb could be hidden. They will not know what should or shouldn't be in any particular place. But they will give you advice on searching, evacuating and re-entering your property.

When you search, you must be very thorough. Check the whole of the floor area, the furniture and the fittings right up to the ceiling. Don't forget cloakrooms, passageways and stairways. Remember to include the car park and other areas around the property.

You are looking for something that should not be there, something that is out of place, something that nobody can recognise or explain.

If you find something that you think may be a bomb, move everybody away from it. If you are in a building, move everybody out of the building to a meeting place at least 100 metres away from and out of sight of the place where the suspicious object was found. If the suspicious object is larger than a suitcase or is a vehicle, your meeting point should be at least 400 metres away. Call the police if you have not already done so. Do not touch or move the suspicious object.

It is a good idea to find a suitable meeting point and let everybody know about it before you have an emergency like this. You could share the meeting point with another business. But if you decide to do this, the meeting point should be at least 400 metres away from each business.

Some buildings have an area which can be used as a bomb shelter. But the area must be approved by experts first. Contact your local Crime Prevention Officer for advice on how to find out whether your building contains a suitable bomb shelter.

Re-entering The Property
If you have evacuated the property without searching it and there has not been an explosion, you will have to think about going back in. Don't allow anyone to re-enter before the property has been thoroughly searched. If you were given a time for the explosion over the phone you must allow at least one hour after that before you start your search.

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