Any time there’s a bomb threat in our city, the Lubbock Police Bomb Squad is called in. The team is used in hazmat and SWAT situations as well. So they train hard to make sure they’re ready for any situation that might come their way.
“The bomb tech business is not like the movies,” said LPD bomb technician Jarred Nolen. “I do not want to start cutting wires on stuff. That’s just bad. If I’m in that situation, it’s a bad day.”
You might have seen the team at work before, either helping the SWAT team or handling their own business, like the bomb threats on Texas Tech’s campus and at Happy State Bank.
“We’ll be available for whoever needs us. We all love this, all the bomb techs. We don’t care about being called,” said Nolen. “We’ll be there with whatever tools we have, even if it’s just a roll of duct tape.”
Besides their willingness to work whenever they’re needed, the specialized equipment helps them get the job done.
One of the most recognizable pieces of equipment is the bomb squad’s robot, which helps them handle situations remotely.
“It’s easily deployed. It’s remote, wireless, it takes us a matter of minutes to get it down and wherever it needs to do,” said Nolen. “If it’s a suspicious package or anything, we can take the robot and we can look at it. We want to manipulate it with the robot. I’d really like to know more about what’s inside of it before I start moving it.”
The robot is also used to move any suspicious package and put it into the bomb squad trailer. The trailer holds the total containment vessel, where a bomb can detonate inside without affecting the outside world.
“It can detonate in there. It’s OK, no one’s going to get hurt,” Nolen said.
And then the bomb squad suit: It’s more than 80 pounds and filled with plates that protect bomb technicians from sharp metal.
“Just like the bomb suit or just like me as a police officer, we have our limitations. So wearing our suit, I feel like I can see better, I can know what’s going on better as opposed to the camera in the robot,” he said.
There are common misconceptions about what these guys do but one thing that’s true across all boards is safety is their first priority.
“You have to think about every little thing that could happen. You got to think about who is it going to hurt,” said Nolen. “If it’s some innocent person, then we can’t have that, that’s not an option.”
“That’s why our robot and our suit and our other specialized tools are so important to us because these things can be replaced but my buddy on the squad can’t,” said another bomb technician, Josh Conklin.
The members of the bomb squad also serve other roles as patrol officers for Lubbock police. The bomb squad is an additional duty but not one would trade it for anything.
