General Discussion

Last edited Tue Jun 19, 2012, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

That's the one where they first said there would be random bag checks, then said there were bag checks, then (after public push back) said that there weren't. What's consistent is that they said they invited TSA and that TSA was there.

http://blogs.ridemetro.org/blogs/write_on/archive/2012/04/16/Multi_2D00_Agency-Sting-Operation-on-Rail-_2600_-Bus-Successful.aspx
In an unprecedented approach that involved four law enforcement agencies - including federal agents - METRO launched a national BusSafe pilot program last Friday that saturated its system and resulted in quality arrests, making transit safer for passengers.

The METRO Police Department, Houston Police Department, Harris County Precinct 7 Deputy Constables and 15 agents - part of so-called viper teams - from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) joined forces in a synchronized, counter-terrorism exercise that focused on bus stops and shelters and transit centers.



That is not inference, it is confirmation. METRO itself says TSA was present.

Also, in my post above, the reporters noted TSA was present and I even included a quote from the article in my post specifying that. To repeat:
You paid for 81 cops to saturate Houston bus stops and routes last Friday. Most were from METRO, but some were from the federal Transportation Security Administration, as well as HPD.



Further, in post 75 I provided information from the Whitehouse's website noting intercity buses are included now in TSA's jurisdiction. And in post 98, I added info about them being invited by Minnesota Valley Transit Authority to patrol and verification by MVTA that TSA has already been patrolling at park and rides there.


This is a clear expansion from TSA operating at airports.


And that's not the only expansion of security that is occurring. As I noted and posted in links above, TSA, DHS and the Border Patrol have been receiving steady budget increases (even as many other important social programs are cut) and have been expanding their roles well beyond their original missions. And with this expansion has come lack of definition and uncertainty about what roles are appropriate as well as lack of defined oversight such as local law enforcement is subject to. That has been a serious issue up here in regard to the Border Patrol as has been documented in investigative reporting done by the Seattle Weekly.

And I think it's well illustrated in this thread, which contains many posts stating that people don't even think TSA is doing this when even the official agencies operating with TSA report about TSA engaging in these actions.

As far as providing security, what security was provided by TSA searching people getting OFF the train in Savannah?
And even as they are expanding this program and others, what security is provided by this currently small number of teams, popping up at bus stops and on buses (whether city stops or park and ride stops)?

A Senior Policy analyst with the ACLU puts it well here:

http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/tsa-seeks-expand-airport-experience-everyday-life
Anyone who has traveled across America knows just how gigantic our nation is. In our country of over 300 million people, the 25 VIPR teams wander around, randomly searching and harassing citizens going about their private business, just in case they happen to intercept a terrorist attack. The government has never created bands of agents to roam around American society looking for those who are about to go on a shooting spree in their campus, office building, or local McDonald’s. The essential silliness of such an idea is self-apparent. But such shooting sprees – though they are basically freak occurrences – are far more common than terrorism.

In one example of the VIPR teams in action, agents screened people who had just gotten off a train in Savannah, Georgia. This incident was only publicized because this video was posted of TSA agents searching the passengers (including a 9-year-old), ordering them around, etc., just like in an airport. The TSA later issued a partial apology, acknowledging that the screening did not make sense – but only because no more trains were leaving the station. It did not admit the fundamentally misguided nature of the program itself.