The Sheriff’s Bomb Squad: Only Coolest Need Apply

Members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad like to joke that their exploits are like being in show business, with at least one big difference--one mistake and they are dead.

They are responsible for dismantling bombs, handling hazardous materials and sifting for clues in suspected arson fires. The job is not for the timid; only the coolest need apply.

Sgt. Allen Humphries, an eight-year veteran of the elite team, said to do what he does requires rigorous attention to detail: “Slacken up and you die.”

‘It’s Challenging’

“I’m like one of those daredevils you see on television,” Humphries said. “It’s not the easiest profession, but it’s challenging.

“We’re the closest thing to Sherlock Holmes. It’s my experience, my knowledge, my opinion and my reasoning that counts out there.”

It is also a life of brinksmanship.

If, while rummaging through your garage, you uncover World War II weapons, hand grenades, time bombs, pipe bombs or any kind of explosive, Humphries or one of the other 21 men and one woman on the bomb squad will be called out.

“We’re like the Ghost Busters. . . . Who’re you goin’ to call? The Bomb Busters,” he said, laughing. “It’s like show business.”

The bomb squad was summoned to the 97th Tournament of Roses Parade when a suspicious-looking box was spotted on the back of the University of Iowa float, a giant, flowered megaphone.

Float Pulled From Parade

The float was yanked out of the parade and pulled to a side street, where after disassembling the box, which had several wires protruding from it, it was determined the device was part of the float’s mechanism.

A close call?

“As long as no one gets hurt, we win,” Humphries said.

Toward that end, the squad uses the latest equipment available.

There is Hadrain, a $65,000 remote-control robot; portable X-ray machines; listening devices; detonation cords, and the bomb truck and trailer used to transport explosives.

“It’s all state-of-the-art, and if it saves lives, it’s worth it,” Humphries said.

Humphries said he doesn’t remember ever being afraid in his years on the squad.

“There’s just too much to think about,” he said. “All the information is running through your mind. The adrenaline is surging, but it’s controlled.”

His most harrowing experience was handling a small bomb placed outside the former Iranian Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard in June, 1980, when anti-Iranian sentiment among Americans was at its peak following the hostage crisis.

Bomb on Doorstep

The device, a gutted transistor radio crammed with explosives and a homemade trigger, was discovered at the doorstep of the former consulate in Beverly Hills.

“There was no way to move it without it going off,” Humphries said. “The building was evacuated so nobody was hurt when it detonated.”

The bomb was not as powerful as they had suspected and caused little damage.

“But this could have become an international incident,” he said.

Although the squad is armed with sophisticated equipment and up-to-the- minute information, there is no sure-fire way to prevent terrorist attacks.

The newest threat to surface--a faceless enemy waging terrorist attacks on Ventura County narcotics officers--has vowed to strike at a major police force, possibly the Los Angeles Police or Sheriff’s departments.

The enemy, an individual or group calling itself the People’s Liberation Army, has placed two bombs at homes of Ventura narcotics officers, including one that exploded in the hands of a 7-year-old boy, who was not seriously injured.

Humphries said the sheriff’s squad is on the alert following the threats, but so far, “We haven’t felt anything here.”

If the People’s Liberation Army attacks extend to Los Angeles, squad members will don their orange bomb suits “and do what we’re trained for--defuse,” Humphries said.