# Bomb threats and evacuations **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 3, 2024, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774 "2024-04-03T10:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/1 "2024-04-03T10:44:39Z")
Sometimes places are evacuated based on bomb threats. I understand the reasoning, that it is just something we cannot afford being wrong about. But it strikes me as a very easy way to have someone expend resources. What stops someone from just making constant anonymous bomb threats? When do they stop taking them seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/2 "2024-04-03T11:13:16Z")
> [@Danger\_Man](#): > > What stops someone from just making constant anonymous bomb threats? With the proper application of resources, nothing is anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/3 "2024-04-03T12:18:42Z")
> [@Danger\_Man](#): > > But it strikes me as a very easy way to have someone expend resources. What stops someone from just making constant anonymous bomb threats? When do they stop taking them seriously? You mean you haven’t already heard about this happening? It’s going on now with numerous state legislature buildings, schools, libraries, etc. It’s not only a waste of time, it’s emotionally draining. It’s a form of intimidation. It is also a federal felony. ---
**Author:** ![Danger\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Danger\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danger_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/4 "2024-04-03T12:34:33Z")
Sorry, I’m not in the US, so I have not heard about it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/5 "2024-04-03T12:57:27Z")
There’s still time to the solution proposed in this infamous SDMB post: > [@Should responding to a bomb threat be illegal by federal law?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-responding-to-a-bomb-threat-be-illegal-by-federal-law/710819): > > It has occurred to me that the disruptions caused by bomb threats - aircraft put out of service, entire buildings evacuated and hours of time wasted - cause more lost human lifespan and money than bombings themselves. So I have the following solution. By federal law (trumping state law), it is \*illegal \*to respond to a bomb threat unless the caller identifies themselves in a unique way as an individual who has already committed a bombing. In the IRA days, the IRA would sometimes call in their… ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/6 "2024-04-03T13:08:15Z")
Another version of this is called Swatting, where someone calls 911 and reports there is an armed person inside there house holding them hostage. Law enforcement ends out the SWAT squad and surrounds the building with officers carrying high-powered rifles, ready to engage, only to find it’s all made up. Imagine how terrified the occupants are when they hear the police breaking down their front door with guns drawn. Here’s an example of a [recent incident](https://www.wral.com/story/wake-forest-family-terrified-after-swatting-incident-sends-dozens-of-law-enforcement-officers-to-their-home/21359672/) that happened in North Carolina. Swatting is becoming more prevalent and can consume almost as many resources as a bomb threat. It can sometimes be used to divert LE resources away from some other criminal activity happening somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/7 "2024-04-03T13:23:59Z")
Here in Philly, a bomb threat was e-mailed for a Drag queen story time hour. A mysterious box was left outside the library where the event was going to be held. It was later found to be filled with coloring books. Last I heard the e-mail was said not to have been sent from in the US. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/8 "2024-04-03T13:32:56Z")
There are code words used to authenticate bomb warnings: > **[Codewords that prove terrorists are the real thing](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/codewords-that-prove-terrorists-are-the-real-thing-1275779.html)** > > It was a move by the IRA which broke its own precedent. When the terrorists gave a coded warning before last week's Wilmslow bombings it was supplied to an elderly woman seemingly picked out at random. > **[IRA Code Words Spell Real Threat](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-04-19-mn-50393-story.html)** > > "This is the Irish Republican Army. On the other hand, madmen who want the bomb to go off and kill hundreds of people don’t bother calling it in. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/9 "2024-04-03T13:36:25Z")
[Moderating] I don’t think there’s really a factual answer to someone’s motivations for doing or not doing something like this. Moving to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bomb-threats-and-evacuations/999774/10 "2024-04-08T19:20:18Z")
> [@Danger\_Man](#): > > What stops someone from just making constant anonymous bomb threats? Nothing, really. When I was in high school we had a few such bomb threats; at least one of them was called in from the school payphone, by a student trying to get out of a test he didn’t study for.