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B.C.
2025-07-03 09:01 PDT
2025 marks a milestone for the BC RCMP’s Explosives Disposal Unit (EDU), as the unit celebrates 50 years of service in British Columbia.
Started with just two part-time members in 1975 when the RCMP took over explosives work across BC, the unit has come a long way in the past five decades, especially given significant advancements in technology that continue to transform – and improve – EDU’s ability to respond to dynamic and dangerous calls.
Originally created to handle found explosives and military ordnance, the unit’s portfolio has also expanded significantly over the last half-century.
These days, as well as handling all things explosives-related, including matters involving criminality, the team also specializes in post-blast investigations and Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) incidents and investigations.
In addition, EDU trains with and provides operational support to other units such as the Emergency Response Team (ERT), which it assists with explosive forced entry, where small amounts of explosives are used to breach things like doors and windows.
Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, BC RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit: This is probably one of the best units in the RCMP. We're responsible for anything explosive-related, criminal in nature, as well as found explosives. We also do explosive forced entry, which is explosive breaching for our Emergency Response Team.
Instrumental music
[Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood indoors near a robot]
[Split screen showing an officer in a bomb suit, an officer backing a robot out of a truck, and a robot exploding a box outdoors]
[Officers wearing green uniforms and yellow vests in a garage]
[Members of the Emergency Response Team entering a dark hallway]
[A door exploding open]
Sound of explosion
Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, BC RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit: We also do chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear as well, the CBRN program. You keep adding these layers of complexity. It involves a lot more equipment, a lot more training, and a lot more personnel. When we started, the robot that we used on the unit here was basically a mishmash of parts that were built together on like an electric wheelchair platform.
[Hands hitting buttons on a piece of equipment]
[An officer in uniform using a remote control]
[A drone flies near a picnic bench and bomb robot outdoors]
[A photo of an old bomb robot]
[A robot driving quickly on pavement]
[An officer points at a screen indoors]
[A large robot driving on pavement]
Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, BC RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit: So now we look at it, and it's a lot more advanced. There's a lot more electronics, a lot more technology involved with that. And the robots can drive longer. They've got better distance, more manipulation. So this large robot behind me, it'll be utilized for things, obviously, in a larger scale. It can traverse large obstacles, it can drive through snow, heavy mud. It can move heavy, heavy objects. It can drive through doors, for example. The robot itself weighs approximately 900 pounds. So its ability to move things and drag things is a lot greater than what we had previously. So there was a gap that we had within our fleet of robots, and now that that's been filled, we're quite excited.
[A robot turns outdoors]
[A close up of the robot’s treads on concrete]
[A large robot picks up a carboard box outdoors]
[An officer points at components on a robot]
[Close up shots of the large robot, including buttons and a camera]
[The robot moves a carboard box with its arm and a piece of imitation dynamite falls out]
[Two robots outdoors with a city skyline in the background, one robot drives out of frame]
Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, BC RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit: The other area would be the bomb suit. From what it originally started off with was just basically some layers of Kevlar in a suit. There's been a lot more technology involved in that. The suits have a lot more protection and a lot more communication built into those.
[Hands zipping up the leg of pants on a bomb suit]
[Hands on a helmet]
[And officer puts on a helmet with help from another police officer]
[The officer in a bomb suit walks outdoors along a river]
[The officer in the bomb suit is bent down with a knife and imitation dynamite, a close up shot of his hands]
Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, BC RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit: Thirdly would be with our X-ray systems, which started off just as a manual type of X-ray unit, where now it's a digital X-ray system that can take X-rays wirelessly and send back images to our bomb truck without having to make multiple approaches to a suspicious device.
[Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood indoors]
[Two officers put down a black panel near a cardboard box]
[An officer zooms in on X ray on a laptop]
[Two officers carrying equipment walk side by side]
[A robot outdoors explodes a cardboard box near a picnic bench]
Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, BC RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit: And I'm very proud of our capabilities that we've got. The technology itself is one thing, but if you don't have the expertise and the people to do it, then it's pretty much useless. I would hope that we're going to see some significant growth in the next few years. We're at the cutting edge for explosive units in the country, and just being able to deal with all the advancements in technology, we're going to need more personnel. So hopefully in the future, that's what we're going to see, the growth.
[An officer adjusts a robot outdoors]
[An officer in a bomb suit walks backwards beside two robots]
[A robot with a phone in its claw moves slowly moves its arm]
[A robot climbs a ramp into a truck]
[A slow pan of the treads of a small robot indoors]
[A closing screen with an RCMP logo with text that says: Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Copyright his Majesty the King in Right of Canada as represented by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2025 which fades into text that says Canada with an animated Canada Flag]
A 1978 article in the Vancouver Sun describes some of the unit’s equipment at the time, which included a 16-foot telescopic pole with clamps, screwdrivers and other fittings, an $8,000 bomb suit, and a custom truck and 7,000 pound trailer that looks like a moon-landing vehicle.
16-foot telescopic pole with clamps, screwdrivers and other fittings,
looks like a moon-landing vehicle
It may have been futuristic back then, but we’ve definitely come a long way since, said Staff Sgt. Brent Elwood, Officer in Charge of the BC RCMP’s Explosives Disposal Unit. Elwood joined EDU 20 years ago and has seen many of the unit’s technological advancements firsthand.
It may have been futuristic back then, but we’ve definitely come a long way since,
The robot we used when I started with the team in 2004 was just a mishmash of parts that was built together on something similar to an electric wheelchair platform, he said. The robots now come equipped with advanced electronics and software. They can cover more distance, shoot projectiles, decap a pipe bomb, open cars, and even break down doors.
The robot we used when I started with the team in 2004 was just a mishmash of parts that was built together on something similar to an electric wheelchair platform,
The robots now come equipped with advanced electronics and software. They can cover more distance, shoot projectiles, decap a pipe bomb, open cars, and even break down doors.
The team’s newest robot weighs approximately 900 pounds. The large-platform robot fills a gap in the unit’s fleet of 12 robots, according to Elwood.
fills a gap
This larger robot has a lot of applications for us. For example, it can traverse large obstacles, drive through snow, mud, move heavy objects, and drive through doors, he says. Its ability to move things and drag things is a lot greater than what we had previously.
This larger robot has a lot of applications for us. For example, it can traverse large obstacles, drive through snow, mud, move heavy objects, and drive through doors,
Its ability to move things and drag things is a lot greater than what we had previously.
The bomb suit technology used by EDU has also advanced significantly.
Elwood says in the early days of EDU, the suit was just some layers of Kevlar. Now, the 80-pound suit offers additional protection, as well as enhanced communication capabilities reflecting years of research and development.
just some layers of Kevlar
Despite the advancements, gearing up and working in the bomb suit still poses challenges given the suit’s structure and weight, which doesn’t allow for much flexibility for the officer inside.
"The more you do it in training and the more you do it operationally, the more comfortable you are. But the first time that you put that bomb suit on and you're going to deal with something that's an actual Improvised Explosive Device (IED), there's a level of stress that's involved. That's when your training kicks in, Elwood said. However, it definitely does make you think twice about what you’re doing."
However, it definitely does make you think twice about what you’re doing."
Another major advancement for the team has been in wireless X-ray technology, which means less contact with suspicious and potentially dangerous items. The team has also started utilizing drones in its work, which is an area that continues to be explored.
While the robots and technology may get a lot of the attention from the public, Elwood says it’s EDU’s highly specialized officers, that respond to an estimated 300 calls per year, that deserve the recognition.
The technology itself is one thing, but if you don’t have the expertise and people to do it, then it’s pretty much useless, Elwood said. You have to be able to go to a scene, understand what’s going on, and know which tools to use.
The technology itself is one thing, but if you don’t have the expertise and people to do it, then it’s pretty much useless,
You have to be able to go to a scene, understand what’s going on, and know which tools to use.
Memorable files during his time on the team have included investigating a series of pipeline bombings in Northern BC in 2008 and 2009, as well as responding to a bank shooting in Saanich, BC in 2022 that injured six members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team.
After the two suspects were shot and killed by police, more than 30 IEDs were found inside their vehicle.
The IEDs were safely secured and detonated by EDU, but the file is significant for the team as it’s one of the largest in Canadian history where that many IEDs were discovered in one location.
Elwood is hopeful he will see the unit continue to expand as EDU navigates increasing demands and a broadening scope of expertise.
Fifty years after the unit was created, we’re at the cutting edge of explosives units in the country, Elwood said. We are proud of what we’ve done, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what else our team can accomplish as we grow in the future.
Fifty years after the unit was created, we’re at the cutting edge of explosives units in the country,
We are proud of what we’ve done, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what else our team can accomplish as we grow in the future.
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