By Staff
Nov. 4, 2001
Police have charged an employee of East Mississippi State Hospital in connection with two September bomb threats to the hospital. Another man has been charged with making a bomb threat at Rush Foundation Hospital.
We don't know what it is about the human condition that leads one person to threaten an entire community, but we know that emergency responses are required even to false threats. It is an incredible waste of resources and an unnecessary interruption to daily life.
Persons convicted of false reporting of explosives deserve heavy prison time. The penalty at present for conviction of this felony is a maximum five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. We suggest that the penalty be doubled.