Found an unattended rucksack.

[Moofreemum1]

Found a plain black unattended rucksack in a children park a min ago. I was with my toddler and didn't want to touch it. Didn't know what was in it e.g. drugs or now adays who knows what's in there. So I called the non emergency number and they said they don't have resources to go and check it.
Was I being unreasonable calling them? She said may be you could go back and check? Made me feel stupid for ringing. It prob is the case someone left it there but you can never be too careful now adays. So was ibu?

90% it's prob something really innocent

More like 99.99%. I would have just left it be. Phoning the police was an overreaction.

Well now adays you never know. So people can mock me if they want but I feel better knowing I didn't touch it especially with my toddler there with me.

In a park I would have assumed a kid had left it by accident. In a City / anywhere more populated, I’d of called none emergency police number for advise too.

Or I think I would have anyway, I tend to bimble my way into situations without thinking and then afterwards think what the fuck did I do that for!

I would say a kids rucksack that has been left on way to school you said it dosent look like a kids one , don't forget teenagers in high school use adult size ones not kiddie character ones.

The problem is, mixed messages leave people not knowing what to do and therefore they end up doing nothing.

I’d guess drugs tbh.

interesting. Skimming through, except for the poster who had a pipe bomb in their village, it seems most people in NI or London would not touch it. I wonder if your location makes a difference to your reaction? (disclaimer, I may have missed a couple of posts, this was just the general feeling I got from the thread)

I would not have touched it. It could be a bomb. I found the same at a quiet (staffed!!) station and told the guard. They said that it belonged to a homeless person. However, the station was on a major line and you never know.

I would have gone with my instincts. If I didnt feel safe looking I wouldn't have done, I did think you should he mocked for that.

Most likely nothing untoward of course.

I got off tube train and somehow dropped preschoolers rucksack by bench. Then spent 5 minutes looking at memorial for people who had died in tube bombing near station entrance before realising. When I got back to platform retracing my steps it had already been reported to staff and I felt awful to have given them a fright.

There was an unattended black rucksack on the tube I was on. I got off at the next stop (and quite a few from the carriage did too) and text the London Transport police. Can't be too careful. In a park, I'd assume it had been left behind.

Don't touch it. It has probably just been forgotten by child on way to school but why take the risk it could be a bomb. If it was left by accident by child they will return for it later.

I would have left it but then I’m used to bomb checking our cars with a mirror every time we left base (when DH was in the army abroad).

We were standing in a till queue at Disney Paris a couple of yrs ago and DH suddenly told me to take the kids and leave the store and move well away from the glass store front.
He said there was an unattended rucksack propped against the end of a display and that it had been there for a while and nobody was with it.

Me and kids left and he told the till staff, just as its (stupid) owner went back and picked it up!!

Can't believe they told you to open it...I know they are short staffed these days but to get you to do their job lol

Yes, most probably nothing but as you said you just never know bit of anthrax, pipe bomb, another type of device mean to do harm, danbgerous snake etc lol sensible people would not open it

Transport police poster on suspicious packages...

You did absolutely the right thing in calling 101. Their advice was wrong. If you'd felt comfortable checking the bag - you would have. It's almost certainly ok, but how are you to know?

I mean I'm not going to deny I'm a nosy person so was curious as to what was inside. But the very small risk of it being dangerous over rides my nosy nature to look inside. I was annoyed when she suggested I look inside. Imagine if it was dangerous and they gave me that advice!

It’s a risk based approach. Terrorist attacks are more likely in cities - if you had rung them in London / Birmingham / Leicester / Manchester then a bomb disposal unit would have been around in 10 minutes. A leafy village in the middle of nowhere with a tiny amount of kids / potential victims - it’s probably nothing to worry about.

Of course things could go wrong, but in this case seems like your local force is prepared to wait for that to happen before it changes it policy.

I don't think you overreacted! In this day and age better safe than sorry.

This isn't about being short staffed, just common sense. People leave bags all the time in places. It is not unusual. The call handler did a common sense risk assessment. Who is going to bomb a playground with nothing in it? Who is going to leave a bag in a playground full of drugs? It is bloody obvious this is nothing. So of course they would not send a staff member out.
Bombers target places where there are people, lots of people. So a playground with a large event on it full of people, preferably with TV cameras there - then sure.
I have always said that people re terrible at risk assessing situations and this thread just proves that.

Has anyone else done a search for 'pipe bombs found in playgrounds'? I have and have found stories from four countries just on the front page.

As an aside, is it just me or is that "HOT" information from the transport police REALLY confusing and unclear?

It seems to be saying that it's UNlikely to be a bomb if it's hidden, but also UNlikely to be a bomb if it's where you'd expect genuine lost property to be left.

However, it's LIKELY to be a bomb if it has wires sticking out

I just did and assume it is the Belfast story. Worked in Belfast for a but during The Troubles, and of course that is a different situation.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that HOT was unclear 😂
Yea as people said very unlikely to be anything but could be something. So I'm not taking the risk, some people would

Working in stadium security (part time) we have it drummed into us to make the area around an abandoned bag sterile, then call for help (not too close to the bag in case you trigger a device with your phone). If you are a supervisor you give it a quick visual check for wires etc. That advice holds good for everywhere to be honest. I have reported abandoned bags at railway stations and coffee shops. I probably would have opened it carefully and given it a visual check before phoning the police, but only so I had more information to report if needed. Better to be safe than sorry.

teddybear interestingly the bomb disposal unit closest to Birmingham is 45 minutes away. So you wouldn't get anyone within 10 minutes. I think that's quite scary.

Stadiums are potential bomb targets so that makes sense. A children's playground with a toddler and mum in really are not.