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FBI's Kings Park class targets terrorism, bombings

BY MATTHEW CHAYES | matthew.chayes@newsday.com

May 8, 2008

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"Three! Two! One!" shouted a bomb technician moments before an earsplitting explosion shook a grassy field yesterday in Kings Park. "Let 'er rip!"

And rip she did, causing a few of those in the assemblage of Long Island and New York City cops - trained anti-crime professionals - to flinch as earth trembled and sound ricocheted off distant buildings.

The bombs, each with a fraction of the explosives used in devices meant to cause harm, were part of a seminar the FBI is holding for local police officers.

During the weeklong course, investigators are learning what to look for after a terror attack and how to collect evidence, all to compile solid data in criminal cases, said Special Agent Bill Davitch, a bomb technician from the bureau's New York City office and one of the instructors.

"This knowledge would apply to any bombing crime scene. You know, anything from a small case involving a pipe bomb or something like that," Davitch said, "all the way up to a bombing like the first World Trade Center bombing, the Oklahoma City bombing."

Davitch would know. He was an agent on the scene at the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995 and testified against bomber Timothy McVeigh, according to a trial transcript.

As part of the seminar this week - part chemistry lab, part Terror Bombing 101 - FBI agents blew up different types of explosives: C4. Dynamite. TNT. Commercial grade. Military grade. Anything that officers might encounter on the job.

And at the end of the 40-hour course, the law enforcement officials will be broken up into small groups where they will scrutinize a mock crime scene such as they might find at a school, or a recruiting station. Then they'll collect evidence to present to a person acting as a prosecutor, said Special Agent Pete Licata.

"This is to give them an appreciation for what explosives can do and their potential," Licata said.

The FBI is imparting lessons learned from domestic terrorist bombing and attacks in war zones, Licata said. After each attack, the authorities tweak their technique. "Terrorists are smart. Criminals are smart, and they'll figure out something else to counteract our countermeasures," Licata said.

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