SoCal law enforcement convene in San Bernardino for training on investigating explosive devices

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Law enforcement from across Southern California converged at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Training Academy this week for a training to better understand how bombs and explosive materials operate.

The training hosted by the FBI is meant for law enforcement to be better equipped at handling investigations where explosives are used and to prevent attacks using them.

"We're trying to show them what explosives are, what they look like, what they feel like, how they function," said FBI instructor Patrick Race.

Law enforcement witnessed demonstrations on explosives, which ranged from improvised homemade explosives to powders.

"It's one thing to show them in a PowerPoint presentation in a class in a video, but when they get to experience it, and see it and they get to feel that blast pressure coming at them, they really get to appreciate how dangerous explosives are," said FBI agent Michael Hong.

Hong said law enforcement needs to be prepared.

"The genesis of this class is to help our investigators and evidence collectors understand what's important when they're looking at evidence pieces in a post-blast scene," Hong said.

Collecting evidence was another part of the training: how the explosive was put together, who created it and how it was employed.

Explosives looked at included chemicals that could be obtained at grocery stores.

Similar evidence gathering skills were employed at a bombing at an Aliso Viejo office building five months ago.

It's all done to make sure someone is held accountable when an incident involving explosives occurs.