DABBLING IN DANGER

Diligence necessary after Vacaville explosion
By Kelvin Wade
March 31, 2011 3:58PM

This week, we were horrified to learn that when an 85-year-old Vacaville man attempted to pick up a newspaper on the lawn Sunday morning, a bomb exploded, leaving him in serious condition in the hospital. We can only hope law enforcement finds and arrests the perpetrator(s) soon.

While most Vacaville and Fairfield residents reacted with horror at news of the explosive device, what I fear is there's a number of people, I can't tell you how many, who reacted with fascination. And those people went online to learn how to make their own bombs. While I hope there isn't, it wouldn't surprise me to see a copycat.

Years ago, when I was on the board of the Bay Area Survivors of Suicide reading about suicide prevention and aftermaths, I came across the Werther Effect. Researchers use the term to explain the phenomenon of copycat suicides. After a publicized suicide, there is usually an uptick in imitative suicides.

However, the phenomenon isn't limited to suicide. In the aftermath of school shootings, inevitably there's a rise in plots and threats at other schools in subsequent days and weeks. While the reporting on the Vacaville incident hasn't been sensationalized, just the fact that it's been covered in the local papers, regional news and picked up by the AP and published in newspapers as far away as the Washington Post and New York Daily News, attracts the eye of those likely to want to replicate the act. The fact that federal law enforcement is involved appeals to the type of person who might want the notoriety associated with committing such a crime.

Since the bombing, a bomb threat has been called into Amtrak in Oakland, Humboldt State University in Arcata, as well as Apple's facilities in Elk Grove. While there's no evidence that the threats were inspired by the Vacaville bombing, it wouldn't be a surprise. Bombings and bomb threats can be contagious when you're talking about disturbed individuals.

In the aftermath of an event like this, you don't have to sit powerless. Become a part of a Neighborhood Watch group. It can pay off having neighbors who are actively looking out for suspicious persons and activity, armed with digital cameras or cell phone cameras.

Beyond that, it certainly won't hurt to take a peek at what your kids are doing online. With the ease of finding bomb-making information on the Internet coupled with the curiosity of youth, bad things can happen. Maybe inspect their room when they're at school. Inspect your own garage. Obviously don't touch anything unfamiliar to you that could potentially be an explosive.

When I was a teen, my best friend and I messed around with M-80s, fire and other dangerous things. We did everything from accidentally blowing up my dog to almost setting a huge fire along the railroad tracks behind our houses. Now we weren't sociopaths out to hurt anyone but young people can do stupid things. We definitely could've used better scrutiny by our parents and/or adults in our neighborhood.

Your child's privacy isn't worth you being sued over something they do. It definitely isn't worth someone's life or limb.

I don't know who made and planted the improvised explosive in the newspaper in Vacaville. But if we're diligent, we just might nip a copycat in the bud. Peace.

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ADDITIONAL NOTES: This kind of column is difficult to write because it calls attention to the thing it's trying to warn against. Some countries actually have different journalistic policies in place in order to deal with the Werther Effect. In some places, suicides are never reported as suicides for that reason. When writing about or reporting on homemade explosive devices it sends the curious online to find out about them. And the information is so readily available. So easy.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of videos online of people building and detonating explosive devices out of the most ordinary of ingredients. Young people seem psychologically incapable of judging risk. We were all young. I dabbled in stuff I shouldn't have. Did a lot of dumb stuff. I just parents, and older siblings and friends to be aware to prevent tragedy.

But at the same time, parents should be forewarned. It's a matter of knowing what's going on in one's kids' lives. And you can't know everything, of course. If someone is actively hiding something, it's hard to know. But responsible parents must try.

Now of course the Vacaville bomber could be an adult. My column isn't so much about the identity or motivation of the Vacaville bomber. It's about watching out for copycats. And I believe most of those copycats, if they exist, would be younger people.