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Bomb scare in Hyde Park
By adamg on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 10:12am
Boston Police tweet the bomb squad's at 655 Metropolitan Ave., which would be Hyde Park Education Complex.
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Comments
Bomb scares: Not funny, cute, or even clever.
Sheesh!! Really... Don't the jerks who perpetrate this kind of prank realize that;
A) they could wreak tons of havoc and be responsible for the death of someone? A person could drop dead of a heart attack or a stroke, for instance?
B) That this kind of prank is a felony that's punishable by a prison sentence?
While we're on the subject of bomb scares, I still recall a bomb scare that occurred at our high school back in the late 1960's as if it were yesterday. It was an icy-cold day, in the middle of January, and the school had been evacuated for what everybody thought was just a regular fire drill, but had turned out to be a bomb-scare, and we were kept outside for quite some time while the fire department searched the building for a bomb. Fortunately, no bombs were found, and everybody in the school had to assemble in the school gymnasium while the school authorities and the fire department explained what had gone on. Sending us all home was out of the question, since that would've increased the chance of a recurrence. So, instead of sending everybody home, we all had to go out and sit on our respective school buses for afew hours. Not too, too long afterwards, the kid who'd perpetrated the bomb scare was apprehended. Since he was a juvenile delinquent (a 14 or 15 year old Freshman), he ended up serving the better part of the year at the Billerica House of Correction.
All of the above having been said, had the perpetrator of our high school bomb scare had been 3 o 4 years older, he probably would've ended up serving harder, longer time in a tough state penitentiary.
So anyways
That kid I mentioned over in that other thread, the one who punched the dean of boys in the eyes.
We heard he was sent to a "600" school, which was allegedly a secret New York school for kids like him, who would never be heard from again.
Even though he was probably the tallest, meanest guy in all of Andreas Hudde Junior High School, he never once touched Korngut or me because we convinced him early on that although we looked like your basic sniveling, couldn't-fight-our-ways-out-of-a-paper-bag junior-high losers, we were, in fact, psychopaths who would just crack a chair over his head and spit on his leaking brains and then laugh (kids: It's amazing how much of a racket you can make throwing a chair into the center of a room where all the chairs have been put on the desks for the night).
Hah hah, we sure fooled him.
Hmm...
I just know I've seen this movie before...
Post-9/11
Is a bomb hoax considered terrorism? Are pranksters flirting with Patriot Act smackdown?
You're being snarky. Right, neilv?
n/t
Not at all
It was a serious question and a point.
When we're talking about potential bombs, at what point do we definitively distinguish "terrorist" from "non-terrorist"? And once we're talking about potential terrorist, we're potentially talking about Bush-era anti-terrorist powers.
I don't know when the calls are made, nor on what criteria. I can imagine a teenager prankster being in a lot more trouble than they would've been 20 years ago.
neilv: It's a matter of taking precautions.
As I said before, in my post, bombscares are not a funny joke, but something that's seen as a threat to be taken seriously. Therefore, the school authorities, police and fire department dealt with this situation as they saw fit; by evacuating everybody in the school while the building was searched for bombs, which, fortunately, weren't found, and, at this point, it was determined that it was a prank. The kid who did it was part of a crowd of kids in our high school who were notorious for causing all kinds of trouble. He was caught, and rightly brought to justice.
Nobody used the terms "terrorist" or "non-terrorist" when this incident occurred, back in the late 1960's, well before 9/11 and the Patriot Act and G. W. Bush, but, you're right about one thing: If something like this occurred nowadays, any kid who did this would've been in even greater trouble than 20-40 some odd years ago.
My question was prompted by
My question was prompted by the bomb threat today in Hyde Park. I'd be interested in answers more authoritative than my own speculation.
Well, to answer the question more directly, neilv:
I'd say that yes; nowadays, a kid who perpetrates this kind of prank would be flirting with post-9/11 Patriot Act-type punishment, which might involve more than just incarceration for a period of time.
No
Even in a city brought to its knees by Lite-Brites, let's not get carried away. I'm doubting law enforcement is going to bring a full-press court against some kid who called in a bomb threat. Find him? If they can, sure. Bring charges against him? You bet. But declare him an enemy of the state? Lock him away as an enemy combatant? No.
And let's stop thinking the 1960s were much better. Back then, there might not have been jail or court time, but only because the local beat cop put the beat on the kid. Much easier that way, and who's to know?
I was mostly imagining a
I was mostly imagining a teenager being questioned, and, when DHS and such is brought up, said teenager suddenly needing a dry pair of pants. :)
I doubt it would be pursued as possible terrorism issue once it was determined to be a prank and background check was OK.
Well,
for one thing, I attended a suburban high school, as opposed to a school in the inner-city. So, due to the fact that the kid in my high school who perpetrated the bomb scare was from the suburbs, and to the fact that he was under 18, he got off a great deal easier than if he'd been 3 or 4 years old, or if he'd been an inner-city kid, either white or non-white.
Also, having read stories about kids these days getting into some pretty awful trouble for much less (i. e. writing imaginary essays about teachers being shot, etc.), I'd say that a kid who perpetrated a bomb scare and got caught stands a chance of getting a much harsher sentence for what s/he did, especially if they're from the inner city.
Tough town
It would have been hard time for a toddler or pre-schooler? Man, that's harsh. What's the sentence for potty accidents?
Hold on a minute, KellyJMF. Before you take it and run with it
Before you take that and run with it: That was a typo on my part. I meant "if the kid had b een 3 or four years older.
Declaring such a kid an "enemy" of the state or
Declaring such a kid an "enemy" of the state or "terrorist" wouldn't have happened in the 1960's, or even anytime prior to 9/11, but I do agree that the local beat cops probably made it possible for the kid who caused the bomb scare at my high school back then to be apprehended.
While we're on the subject of the 1960's, however, as someone who grew up during the 1950's and the 1960's, unlike many, if not most people my age who also grew up during that period, I have no illusions whatsoever that the 1960's were a whole lot better, if any. In fact, there was quite a bit of roughness, meanness, spitefulness and underhandedness, which I regularly saw visited upon other people, but that's a whole different matter.
Suspension for skipping classes was also quite rampant during that time, too