First respondersDHS grant buys upgrades for MS police department's bomb squad

The local police department of Tupelo, Mississippi is spending$50,000 to bolster its bomb squad’s capabilities thanks to a grant from DHS.

The grant was awarded to Tupelo’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team and will be used to buy new equipment as well as a bomb disposal robot.

While critics question the need for a bomb squad, Tupelo police chief Tony Carleton insists that Northeast Mississippi needs such capabilities.

So far the bomb squad has responded to three calls regarding suspicious packages, which all turned out to be false alarms.

Carleton says that any one of those calls could have been for a real bomb.

“The sad thing is that we do need a bomb unit in this day and age,” he said.

“What if one of those situations did involve an explosive device and we didn’t have a unit in place to deal with it? Then we’d be in a terrible position that could risk lives. I hope we never find a bomb but the reality is that it’s possible,” Carleton continued.

Tupelo’s bomb squad will also benefit other local police departments in the area.

Don Rowan, the police chief of the nearby town of Baldwyn, said, “I really believe that in the future there will be more of a need for such a unit. There is no way a department our size could afford a bomb squad, so it’s good that Tupelo has one and that they make it available to agencies.”

Andy Hood, the sheriff of Monroe, fully agreed and echoed Rowan’s sentiments.

“It’s good to have the regional approach we have with Tupelo and other agencies. We don’t have the resources they have but we do access to what they have because they have made it available. That allows us to provide maximum protection to our residents.”