TSA Security Officers to Deploy to Mass-Transit Systems
ndercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers will deploy to bus and train stations, ferries, and mass-transit stations across the country this week in a new Transportation Security Administration program aimed at preventing terrorism, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
iting TSA documents, the paper said the “Visible Intermodal Protection and Response,” or Viper teams, will work on Amtrak's Northeast corridor and Los Angeles rail lines; ferries in Washington state; and mass transit systems in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Baltimore, TSA said in public announcements. They teams will also patrol the Washington Metro system, the Post reported.
A Viper team will be made up of two air marshals, a bomb-sniffing-canine team, one or two TSA inspectors, a local law enforcement officer, and one other TSA employee, the Post said in a front-page story.
Air marshals will remain on flights this holiday season, while at several airports, TSA is training dozens of screeners in behavior recognition techniques to identify suspicious passengers, the Post said.
