Suspicious Mail Calls Innundate Officers

The anthrax scare is showing up on police logs in Utah. Officers are responding to a large number of calls involving suspicious mail.

And hazardous materials teams which normally answer one call a day are now responding to 10 alarms a day. It taking a toll on time and tempers.

News Specialist Jed Boal explains.

The chances of you coming into contact with anthrax are extremely low, especially in your private mail.

Regardless, we can't dismiss the threat entirely. But police across the state need help from the public to keep the scope of this problem in perspective.

In Ogden Monday, police responded to two separate calls on a suspicious powder. Three people were decontaminated and that powder is being tested.

At the Salt Lake County Dispatch Center, the number of calls has jumped since Friday. People are worried about mail with no return address, fliers found in driveways, and other suspicious mail.

Salt Lake County Hazmat has responded to 10 calls a day since Friday, compared to an average of one a day.

Gigi Smith/Salt Lake County Dispatch Training Supervisor: WE'RE GETTING A LOT MORE SUSPICIOUS CALLS THAN NORMAL. NOW PEOPLE ARE CALLING ON MANY THINGS WHICH DOES INCREASE OUR VOLUME.

Lt.Col. Scott Behunin/Dir. Office of Homeland Security: THERE'S ONLY SO MANY RESOURCES TO GO AROUND. AND THEY'RE BEING EXPENDED CHASING DOWN SUSPICIOUS LETTERS. SO, THAT'S EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING.

The Office of Homeland Security believes we can all do more to determine the identity of mail before calling 911.

The calls to law enforcement for suspicious mail slow their response time for all other calls.

The Office of Comprehensive Emergency Management has plenty of information on anthrax, and some steps you can take before calling 911. For that, go to www.cem.state.ut.us.

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