[MSN] 'Bomb threat' at Maier Museum spurs apology by police chief. Lynchburg Police Chief Charles Bennett said Wednesday that his officers should not have told onlookers that there was a bomb threat at the Maier Museum on Monday in order to evacuate the area.

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'Bomb threat' at Maier Museum spurs apology by police chief
By Carrie J. Sidener
csidener at newsadvance.com
Wednesday, October 3, 2007


Lynchburg Police Chief Charles Bennett said Wednesday that his officers
should not have told onlookers that there was a bomb threat at the Maier
Museum on Monday in order to evacuate the area.

The decision to lie to the public about a bomb scare to divert attention
from the removal of four paintings from the museum was a mistake, Bennett
said.

"It was not a good thing to do. It was just a mistake on (the officer's)
part that we are dealing with."

The officers' conduct is being handled, Bennett said. He declined to provide
details, saying it was a personnel issue.
He did say all the officers have discussed what happened and why using that
particular ruse was inappropriate.

"Police use ruses occasionally," Bennett said. "People make mistakes
occasionally. This is one person attempting to do the right thing but he
didn't think about the consequences."

Bennett issued a news release Wednesday afternoon explaining the incident
and apologizing to the public for violating the police department's
"principles of integrity and trust."

Randolph College called the police department about two hours before the
four paintings needed to be moved, requesting help to secure the area and
protect the artwork. The college's board of trustees voted Monday to auction
the works next month to help boost the endowment of the financially troubled
school.

Because of the value of the artwork - George Bellows' "Men of the Docks,"
Edward Hicks' "A Peaceable Kingdom," Ernest Hennings' "Through the Arroyo"
and Rufino Tamayo's "Troubador" - college officials asked that the paintings
be moved as discreetly as possible, the news release said. The paintings
will be sold in two public auctions in late November. They are expected to
raise at least $32 million.

Two officers were dispatched to the college with little preplanning, Bennett
said.

When officers arrived at the museum around 6:30 p.m. Monday, they "observed
several persons in the immediate area of the museum, which was not
anticipated," the release said. Those people asked officers repeatedly why
they were at the museum. To clear the area quickly, the officers told people
there had been a bomb threat.

Bennett said the bomb threat statement was not appropriate. He said the
Lynchburg Police Department has a relatively young work force and that was
one of the mistakes that come from a lack of experience.

"The officers' spur-of-the-moment decision to use a ruse in this situation
was a mistake," Bennett wrote in the news release.

Such action is not in keeping with the Lynchburg Police Department policy or
with the principles under which the department operates.

"Fundamental to the Department's value of Professionalism are the principles
of integrity and trust. In this instance those principles were compromised
by a spur-of-the-moment decision that was inappropriate.

"The Lynchburg Police Department apologizes for this mistake and regrets any
inconvenience that it caused."

The use of the bomb threat ruse was not orchestrated by Randolph College,
the news release said. Some who heard the comment Monday assumed that it was
part of a plan orchestrated by college officials to keep observers away
while the artwork was removed, numerous sources said Monday and Tuesday.

City Council member Mike Gillette criticized the bomb threat call on
Wednesday.

"I don't think it is appropriate to use misinformation to control the
public," he said. "I don't think it is appropriate to lie to folks about
something as serious as a bomb threat, especially in a post-9/11 era."

City Councilman Bert Dodson on Wednesday deferred comments about the
incident to Bennett and city manager Kimball Payne.
Other council members could not be reached Wednesday.

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