A member of the bomb squad approaches a suspicious device earlier today, outside the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office in Coeur d'Alene after a robot was used to take a closer look.  The device, apparently a cell phone, a battery and a road flare, was not an explosive device. (SR photo: Carolyn Lamberson)

Authorities say a suspicious device found outside the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office this morning was made to look like a bomb but was harmless. It was a road flare with a battery tucked inside it, attached to a phone, investigators said. The Spokane bomb squad investigated the object, found by an inmate on a work crew along North Government Way about 9:15 a.m. It was found at the southwest corner of the campus that includes the county jail, said sheriff’s Maj. Ben Wolfinger/Spokesman-Review. More here.

Question: Are we starting to over-react to suspicious packages and devices? Or does the potentially lethal bomb found in the backpack along the MLK Day parade route justify caution?