PSNI staff get bomb check mirrors

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/8460269.stm

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Police officers and civilian staff working for the PSNI are to be issued with special mirrors to check under their vehicles for booby trap bombs.

Some electronic detectors may also be available, but senior officers say the most reliable safeguard is for staff to physically check under their vehicles.

Dissident republicans have used car bombs in a number of attacks, most recently near Randalstown last Friday.

Constable Peader Heffron remains critically ill following that attack.

He has had to have his leg amputated.

The PSNI has said the decision to supply the mirrors to more than 10,000 of its officers and staff was taken weeks before that attack.

BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent Vincent Kearney said: "In the past, many police officers had electronic detection devices.

"Sensors placed in or under the car could detect the presence of a device.

PSNI staff and officers have been given mirrors to check their vehicles

"They sent a signal to this indicator which the driver could see from outside the car - a red light meant a device had been detected and the driver should call his local police station.

"While the PSNI hasn't ruled out also using some electronic equipment, it says simple mirrors are the most reliable safeguard."

Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said the most effective way to counter the threat of under car devices was to look under the vehicle for anything suspicious.

"That is what we are advising all our staff to do and to ensure that if they see anything suspicious they immediately report it.

"Every piece of technology can always be countered and the best piece of technology we all have is our eyes."