FBI goes underwater in Monterey Bay to detonate bombs

UPDATE: FBI bomb technicians and safety divers, along with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, went deep underwater Wednesday, to piece together the stories behind detonated bombs in the Monterey Bay.

“We did locate our crime,” said Monterey County Sheriff’s Sgt. Supervisor Michael Darlington.

The training was an FBI Underwater Blast Investigations Course. The bombs buried beneath, were built to mimic the type of devices law enforcement could see in real life. They’re detonated in advance and put into the water by instructors. The teams are given a scenario and sent out to investigate the crime scene.

“Make sure it’s safe, then describe the evidence, collect it, bring it out of the water, package it as evidence,” said Greg Rabinovitz, with the FBI Counter IED Unit. “Take it back to the classroom, reassemble the device, and tell us how they think it worked.”

Which teaches them how to prepare for potential explosives or terrorist attacks offshore.

“That gives them the opportunity to get the skills down to understand what they need to do,” said Rabonovitz. “If an incident occurs tomorrow, and they go out on it, it’s not the first time they’ve ever seen it.”

Monterey County Sheriff’s said they get called for everything from drownings to suspicious activity on the water. They said the training will help them to better process their crime scenes.

“More recently we pulled an individual out of Arroyo Seco River,” said Darlington. “We’re still working the Salinas River Elm Bridge accident where the individual was knocked into the river and drowned. We’re still trying to search and look for that gentlemen. Every class we go to and every training we participate in we pick up new skills and techniques.”

The FBI also said nationally, the 9-11 terrorist attack opened a lot of people’s eyes to the types of crimes that could be committed. More sweeps of piers and harbors are being done all over the country by safety divers to make sure those huge economic generators are safe.

“The more that happens, the more things we recover, the more things we find,” said Rabinovitz. “It produces the need for a way to respond when we do find something. That’s common now in a way it wasn’t back when we weren’t looking, but we look much more carefully now.”

ORIGINAL POST: The FBI San Francisco Division, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Coast Guard dived into the bay to investigate underwater crime scenes.

But do not panic, it’s just an exercise!

It’s part of an underwater post blast investigation, hosted by the FBI for the first time in Monterey.

Officials say it helps bomb squads and other responders prepare for potential underwater attacks. KION’s Maya Holmes will have the full story at 5&6.