Bomb threats in large venues: To tell or not to tell?

chelseamb11 · July 2012

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48237188/ns/us_news-security/

CN: There have been several bomb threats to a baseball stadium in Detroit during games, but fans aren't told about them or evacuated. Some fans find this unacceptable because people's lives could be at risk and they have a right to know. Other fans and the park officials say that if they evacuated for every bomb threat, there would be no games and empty stadiums. They properly investigate each threat and only evacuate if necessary.

WDYT? Should fans even be told of all bomb threats before they're investigated? Should fans even be allowed into an event like that that has had a bomb threat? Would you want to know personally?

I'm slightly on the fence but leaning toward the "don't tell me unless I have to know" camp. Any place can be bombed with or without a threat, so there's always that small level of risk. I feel like telilng people mid-game could result in more injuries of people rushing out that its worth, especially if most threats result in nothing. That being said, I could also see a lot of trouble coming up if a threat is made, they don't evacuate, and a bomb does go off because they couldn't find it.

[Deleted User] · July 2012

Whenever I go to large events, I always assume there is a bomb threat. There are too many crazies out there that do stupid things like calling in crapy threats. I don't think the venue should tell or evacuate for each one. I think they have a duty to investigate each and act based on the findings of their investigations.

maratea · July 2012

I'm with Cew. And if everyone was told, can you imagine the mass hysteria it would cause and how many people would be trampled in the rush to get out.

Take comfort in the fact that, if the threat is real and a bomb goes off, you probably won't be the only one to die.

ErinG93 · July 2012

They absolutely should not tell about every threat. It creates a problem when people are getting trampled because everyone is rushing to the door. The threats will be investigated, and the stadium would be evacuated if there was a bomb. I think you go into large events knowing that there are all kinds of security issues and trust that threats like that will be investigated.

pirategal03 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_bomb-threats-in-large-venues-to-tell-or-not-to-tell?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:89b87fa7-fe40-4e85-baa9-4307def79ed4Post:9fe40847-b77a-415f-8363-29d24873047e">Re: Bomb threats in large venues: To tell or not to tell?</a>:
[QUOTE]Whenever I go to large events, I always assume there is a bomb threat. There are too many crazies out there that do stupid things like calling in crapy threats. I don't think the venue should tell or evacuate for each one. I think they have a duty to investigate each and act based on the findings of their investigations.
Posted by cew515[/QUOTE]

I was about to say this too. I also assume there's a bomb threat at my workplace much of the time. I expect the threats to be investigated appropriately, but there's no way I want the panic of evacuation all the time. Nothing would ever get done.

mkrupar · July 2012

I agree with PPs. Announcing every bomb threat will just create mass hysteria at a large venue. If a threat is called in, deemed to be not true, then I see no need to worry and upset thousands of people because someone felt like crank calling a Bon Jovi concert.

chelseamb11 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_bomb-threats-in-large-venues-to-tell-or-not-to-tell?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:89b87fa7-fe40-4e85-baa9-4307def79ed4Post:b22345f9-40aa-487f-ab7d-0c96cec980da">Re: Bomb threats in large venues: To tell or not to tell?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm with Cew. And if everyone was told, can you imagine the mass hysteria it would cause and how many people would be trampled in the rush to get out. Take comfort in the fact that, if the threat is real and a bomb goes off, you probably won't be the only one to die. :)
Posted by maratea[/QUOTE]

Lol how is that comforting?

ZombieNates · July 2012

I'm on board with everyone else regarding the mass hysteria.

The only actual experience I have with bomb threats is at work, where we have to evacuate for every threat called in or written in the school. One year we had about 7 bomb threats called in or written in a bathroom over the course of a few months. The kids became inured to them after a while. I would think that if people were continually evacuated, they wouldn't take it seriously when there was a genuine emergency.

jcg98 · July 2012

I'd be curious to know how many of the serious bombings in our history included a bomb threat. I can't think of one at a big public event, other than in the movies.

I agree that it would be a bigger threat to public safety to alert people to every threat. Even a credible threat, there's no guarantee stadium officials will get people out in time anyway and there's likely to be a stampede.

I used to work for a large arts center and we got a lot of bogus bomb threats after 9-11 - so many that they actually issued "How to Handle a Bomb Threat Call" flyers for us to keep under our phones. Luckily, I never had to field one of those.

pirategal03 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_bomb-threats-in-large-venues-to-tell-or-not-to-tell?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:89b87fa7-fe40-4e85-baa9-4307def79ed4Post:89c4075f-83b1-4828-b8ef-32bd185a3a71">Re: Bomb threats in large venues: To tell or not to tell?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'd be curious to know how many of the serious bombings in our history included a bomb threat. I can't think of one at a big public event, other than in the movies. I agree that it would be a bigger threat to public safety to alert people to every threat. Even a credible threat, there's no guarantee stadium officials will get people out in time anyway and there's likely to be a stampede. I used to work for a large arts center and we got a lot of bogus bomb threats after 9-11 - so many that they actually issued "How to Handle a Bomb Threat Call" flyers for us to keep under our phones. Luckily, I never had to field one of those.
Posted by jcg98[/QUOTE]

Eric Rudolph called police about the bomb he planted at the '96 Atlanta Olympics didn't he?

chelseamb11 · July 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_bomb-threats-in-large-venues-to-tell-or-not-to-tell?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:17Discussion:89b87fa7-fe40-4e85-baa9-4307def79ed4Post:89c4075f-83b1-4828-b8ef-32bd185a3a71">Re: Bomb threats in large venues: To tell or not to tell?</a>:
[QUOTE]I'd be curious to know how many of the serious bombings in our history included a bomb threat. I can't think of one at a big public event, other than in the movies. I agree that it would be a bigger threat to public safety to alert people to every threat. Even a credible threat, there's no guarantee stadium officials will get people out in time anyway and there's likely to be a stampede. I used to work for a large arts center and we got a lot of bogus bomb threats after 9-11 - so many that they actually issued "How to Handle a Bomb Threat Call" flyers for us to keep under our phones. Luckily, I never had to field one of those.
Posted by jcg98[/QUOTE]

I agree. I feel like someone who truly wanted to inflict damage/death they wouldn't warn people so that those people could get out of harms way

LetsHikeToday · July 2012

Did anyone hear about the bomb threats that happened at Pitt last spring? They had 140 threats in the span of 2 or 3 months and evacuated for all of them. Here is a link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/us/group-says-it-has-ceased-bomb-threats-at-university-of-pittsburgh.html I'm sure there are many threats I don't know about and I'm okay not knowing. I just wonder if opinions would change if one of these threats did happen in Detroit and a lot of people either lost their life or were injured.

midgetthemighty · July 2012

Yeah, they shouldn't tell them about every bomb threat. I think it's standard procedure to not tell and thoroughly investigate the building, only informing the masses if there really is a bomb.

My junior year of high school was bomb threat after bomb threat. They didn't even evacuate us every time they found one, normally written on the stall of a bathroom.

Simply Fated · July 2012

There are always bomb threats being made and we're hardly ever told about them. If one does go off that they knew about, but failed to tell the citizens about, then they can get in a shitton of trouble. So, I feel pretty secure in that if there was a real threat, they'd let us know.

Bomb threats in large venues: To tell or not to tell?

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