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Expectations During an Incident
Suspicious
Packages >>
- Be alert to receiving
suspicious packages or letters. Handle them with care. Do not shake
or bump them. If you are holding it when you recognize it as suspicious,
put the item down, isolate it, and look for other indicators.
- Once you determine
a package is suspicious, do not touch the package. Evacuate yourself
and other personnel from the area. Use a telephone in another area (not
a mobile phone because the frequency could possible serve as a detonator)
and report it immediately to UPD or the local police if not at a DC
campus.
- If the package
is suspected of containing a biological contaminant, remember that the
envelope or wrapping itself may be porous enough to permit an agent
to contact the skin of anyone who handles it even before it is opened.
- Indicators of
a suspicious package or letter:
- Addressee’s
name or title may be inaccurate.
- Origin –
postmark or name of sender is unusual, unknown, or no further address
is given. International packages or letters that do not contain
familiar return addresses should be considered suspect.
- Hazardous
mail may have distorted handwriting or the name may be prepared
with homemade labels or cut-and-paste lettering.
- Cancellation
or postmark may show a different location than the return address.
- Postage –
excessive or inadequate postage.
- Balance –
the letter is lopsided, unusually thick or seems heavy for its size.
- Contents
– stiffness or springiness of contents, protruding components,
including wires, oily outer wrapping or crystallization on wrapper,
or something that feels like it contains powdery substance. If you
believe there is powder inside, do not shake the package or letter.
- Smell –
particularly almond or other suspicious odors – do not put
the package close to your face to smell it – a strong odor
will be evident.
- Writing –
handwriting of sender is not familiar or common words misspelled.
- Letter bombs
may feel rigid or appear uneven or lopsided.
- Package bombs
may be unprofessionally wrapped with several combinations of tape
used to secure the package and may be endorsed “Fragile –
Handle With Care” or “Rush – Do Not Delay.”
- Hazardous
mail may have restricted endorsements such as “Personal”
or “Private.”
- Hazardous
mail may have an irregular shape, soft spots, or bulges.
- Pressure
or resistance may be noted when removing contents from an envelope
or package. If so, cease removing the contents immediately.
- If you are suspicious
of mail and are unable to verify the contents with the addressee or
sender:
- Do not open
it.
- Isolate the
mail and evacuate the immediate area.
- Do not put
it in water or a confined space such as a desk drawer or filing
cabinet.
- If you have
any reason to believe a letter or package is suspicious, report
it. Do not take a chance or worry about possible embarrassment if
the item turns out to be innocent.
- If material contained
in the letter or package is released, individuals exposed to the discharge
should move from the immediate area to an adjacent space, if possible,
trying not to contaminate others.
- Unless the package
is definitively identified as non-threatening, anyone exposed to the
material should be examined by a doctor. Identify the method of delivery
and who else may have come in contact with the package.
- Retain all involved
material for the first responders. Limit the number of persons who have
touched the materials to an absolute minimum. This will help preserve
the item as evidence so that it can be processed for fingerprints, etc.
- First responders
will be prepared to supervise or conduct a gross decontamination of
those involved (details situation dependent) and establish the limits
of the crime scene.
- First responders
will be prepared to establish a quarantine area if necessary.
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