Last Thursday, a portion of downtown Kissimmee was put on lockdown after the Kissimmee Police Department’s community relations squad patrolling on bike came across what they perceived to be a suspicious device in front of City Hall.

The supposed bomb, found shortly before 10:30 a.m., turned out to be a light fixture with exposed wiring, according to Stacie Miller, spokeswoman for the Kissimmee Police Department.

Shortly before the evacuation, police started stringing yellow crime scene tape around a several-block area to restrict access. The cordoned off area was then expanded once the bomb squad arrived and workers or visitors to the area were unable to access vehicles if they were inside the restricted zone.

Even employees from the Osceola News-Gazette were hurried out of the office, losing operating time.

It wasn’t until about four hours later that authorities allowed access to the road and buildings.

Now, we can understand that some people who were caught in the perimeter while police worked the scene might have been frustrated. They might have had things to do or people to see. And at the end of the investigation, it was learned there was never a dangerous device. But we applaud the Kissimmee Police Department for a job well done. Because we believe it’s better to be safe than sorry. We were fortunate that the device was not an actual threat. But if it had been and police officials did not perform the duties they were paid to do, who knows what the outcome could have been.

When we hear reports of a bomb threat, often times nothing becomes of it. But that doesn’t mean we should become complacent. We believe every report must be treated as a threat until we learn otherwise.

The Orlando Police Department’ bomb squad was called to the scene to deal with the device, arriving about noon. After investigating the device using a robot, the bomb squad shot into it, destroying it.

While we don’t have bomb threats every day, we wonder if it would suit local law enforcement better if it had it’s own bomb squad instead of having to wait for an agency from the neighboring county.

In the meantime, let’s all just be grateful that when the incident was all over, we were left safe and sound.