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**The Orange County (CA) Sheriff’s Department:OCSD Bomb Squad — Community Engagementwith a Small But Mighty Team**
  October 2018 | Volume 11 | Issue 10

*The COPS Office is pleased to feature the Orange County (CA) Sheriff’s Department as the October 2018 winner of the Community Policing in Action Photo Contest. The winning photo features Deputy Andre Raglin interacting with a student while volunteering at an event for the Blind Children’s Learning Center in Orange County, California.*

Orange County is located in sunny  Southern California, where it borders 40 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline. The  region is south of Los Angeles and north of San Diego, and it is sixth most  populous county in the nation with 34 cities containing over 3 million people. The  Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) helps to maintain the public safety  of this dense region with its 21 separate divisions that collectively provide  comprehensive law enforcement services to the area.

Within the OCSD’s Homeland Security  Division is the Hazardous Devices Section, or more popularly known as the OCSD  Bomb Squad. This police unit is made up of 18 members, aided by eight K-9s, who  are all classified as Certified Bomb Disposal Technicians by the FBI Bomb Data  Center. These officers are responsible for the immediate response of explosive-related  incidents in all of the county’s government jurisdictions.

The small but  mighty team has a vast area to cover, especially considering the unit “has one  of the top ten call volumes for explosives in the nation.” Deputy Andre Raglin  says, “[the different calls] give us the opportunity to go to different cities  all over the place, so it is fun,” but at the same time, “being a bomb tech, it  is a challenge everyday – you never know what you are going to get.”

The officers are  constantly on the move: conducting random sweeps in patrol areas and for  special large-scale events, responding to service calls, and participating in  training exercises with the squad, local law enforcement and other OCSD  divisions. The unit also provides demonstrations, orientations or briefings for  organizations and the community.

The bomb squad hosts  and partakes in these events to help to create awareness about the unit’s role  in the community and to further public safety awareness initiatives. For  example, nearly every month Deputy Raglin and the unit have orientations for  the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) “to explain [to the new hires]  what to expect when they see us walking around with bomb tech on our backs,  vests and our dogs.” These types of orientations help to ensure that the squad’s  surveillance of patrol areas is streamlined, effective and safe.

The OCSD Bomb  Squad not only hold official briefings or orientations, but the team also volunteers  at schools, youth events and community activities. For events such as National  Night Out, the squad brings the “big bomb trucks, robots, bomb dogs, replica  explosives, grenades, and artillery shells,” which are popular among those  young and old throughout the community. These displays of hazardous items, and  activities such as fireworks demonstrations, act as cautionary tales that help  residents learn about explosive-related incidents and related safety protocols.

For the past three  years, the Bomb Squad has had the unique opportunity to give back to the community  through volunteering at the Blind Children’s Learning Center’s annual Easter  Egg Hunt. The squad plays a special role in this event as they are in charge of  piecing together interactive eggs with speakers, buzzers, and on and off  switches. These “beeping eggs” are hidden for the visually impaired children to  locate and to practice their motor skills.

In the winning  photo contest image, Deputy Raglin is seen showing a young student the inner  workings of a discovered egg. “These kids are amazing. They have no sight, but  [the students] can hear the eggs and are picking up [as many as they can] while  moving around the entire playground,” Deputy Raglin said. “We are re-hiding  them just as fast as they can find them! It is pure adrenaline and excitement  as [the kids] are running and finding them.” The event is a great success each  year; it allows the children, their parents and community members to interact  with the officers and K-9s in a relaxed environment, while also participating  in an Easter holiday ritual that, otherwise, the children may not have had the  opportunity due to their disabilities.

Besides volunteer  events and orientations, the OCSD Bomb Squad also finds a way to connect with  the Orange County community through the use of social media. The unit keeps  followers informed about trainings, explosive-related incidents and service  calls where hazardous items were detected, turned in or found.  These posts are useful learning tools as the  squad provides information and reminders about safety protocols for hazardous  devices and issues.

Social media can  also be useful in helping others identify what could be a dangerous weapon in  their own home or neighborhood. For example, a post about an artillery round  led a woman to realize that she had the same item from her father after he  passed away. “She had a military ordnance in her house and didn’t even know  it!” Deputy Raglin recalled.

These various  outlets that the OCSD Bomb Squad uses to keep the community as informed as  possible  makes an impact not only on the  public safety of the community but also on the squad’s ability to do its job.  The community of Orange County is able to learn about the dangers and safety  protocols surrounding explosive-related incidents, which in turn aids the  section with successfully carrying out its duties in a safe and effective  manner.

The COPS Office congratulates the Orange County Sheriff’s  Department for being one of the 12  winners of the COPS Office 2018 Community Policing in Action Photo Contest and  for its commitment to community policing.

*Written with  contributions from Orange County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Andre Raglin.  Photo courtesy of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. *****

Madeleine Smith          COPS Office

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