Protocol change eyed after latest courthouse threat

A change in protocol is under way that will make the California Highway Patrol the lead investigative agency for bomb threats at the Del Norte County Courthouse.

The change will relieve the Crescent City Police Department from some of the duties it has handled while responding to the calls and place the jurisdiction of a state building into the hands of a state agency, said Police Chief Doug Plack.

“Recognizing the lack of resources California Highway Patrol has up here as well as local law enforcement and emergency services, we will continue to work together. It’s just a transference of the primary responsibility,” said Plack.

Bomb threats will also be handled differently; the threat levels of the calls will be assessed in order to determine whether the whole building needs to be cleared or if there only needs to be a walk-through, Plack said.

“We are going to respond a little bit differently to assure that the employees and people in the courthouse are safe and continue with less of a disruption,” said Plack.

The change will help limit the amount of resources used, said Plack, adding that several other agencies respond to help cordon off perimeters and conduct a search of the courthouse.

“Between the investigation and the perimeter and the initial call out to personnel to respond, it certainly does take away from the responsibility and emergencies that may exist” elsewhere, said Plack.

The latest bomb threat was received Tuesday about 8:30 a.m. and authorities spent about an hour ensuring the courthouse was secure, Plack said.

There were six bomb threats last year and they typically take an hour for authorities to determine no threat exists, Plack said.

There haven’t been any bombs found in the courthouse following calls in the past 20 years, he said.

The process of ironing out the details in the change of protocol and well as transferring main responsibilities is expected to be completed soon, Plack said.

Reach Anthony Skeens at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it