The Sheriff’s Bomb Squad is primarily responsible for the safe disposal of explosives and improvised explosive devices. Other duties include assisting in post-blast crime scene investigations, educating the residential and business communities about bomb threat response, and participating in school and other public awareness programs concerning the dangers of illegal fireworks.

The Bomb Squad is comprised of Deputy Bomb Technicians who have completed the FBI's 5-week Hazardous Devices School training at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. The Bomb Squad has two full-time bomb/arson investigators and eight collaterally assigned deputies who have other primary assignments such as patrol, custody, or investigations in addition to their Bomb Squad duties.

Bomb disposal is a unique and highly specialized vocation requiring specialized equipment. Our Bomb Squad is fortunate to have state-of-the-art resources including portable x-ray equipment, bomb suit with cooling unit, water canon, explosives containment vessel, and a variety of other equipment.

One of our most versatile pieces of equipment is our ANDROS Mark V-A Hazardous Response Robot. In many situations, the use of this robot allows the Bomb Technician to safely remove and place an explosive device in the explosives containment vessel without ever having to enter the "kill zone." The robot can also be used to remotely x-ray a device or execute a remote "render safe" procedure.

Because of the danger associated with explosives disposal, training is ongoing. In addition to the basic HDS training, Bomb Technicians attend semi-annual HDS refresher training, monthly team training, and periodic regional inter-agency training. Several members of the team also join bomb squad members from 59 other countries at the annual International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators international training conference.