ABSTRACT
The identification, threat assessment, and disposal of suspicious packages is an important part of keeping the public safe as a wide variety of possible threats can be originating from such packages and containers. With the increasing public perception of terrorism as a threat to public safety and with the cases used as illustration for this entry, suspicious packages have become more concerning for United States Homeland Security. Both categories of suspicious packages identified can cause serious threats to public safety and have negative effects on the perception on security. According to the United States Postal Inspection Service, suspicious packages received through the regular mail can include mail bombs, suspicious or harmful chemical or biological substances, and also hoax devices. Using backpacks and other smaller devices abandoned in public spaces also can represent a real threat, as the Spanish and Japanese examples have shown.
