Employees returned to work Monday morning at the West Melbourne Police Department after two separate suspicious packages were found on the front doorstep.

  • 2 suspicious packages left on West Melbourne PD doorstep
  • Packages ultimately determined to be not dangerous
  • Recently, old hand grenade caused department evacuation

Investigators said a cleaning person noticed the items just after 6 a.m. and notified staff.

Members of the Brevard Sheriff's Office bomb squad were called in and surrounding traffic was rerouted, including parents who were dropping off children at the West Melbourne School for Science across the street.

The suspicious items turned out to be a purse and plastic bag and not dangerous. At about mid-morning, the all-clear was given, and the department went back to normal operations.

"When you leave a package at a building like this, this is what it could cause. Again, it could be something very innocent, and we understand that. But we ask people not to leave packages unattended outside a government building, especially a police department," Capt. Rich Cordeau said.

A couple of weeks ago, a resident brought an old hand grenade to the West Melbourne PD, forcing an evacuation. The bomb squad responded and safely took care of it. Police said they will come to you if you find an item like that; don't bring it to the department.