Marshals To Patrol Land, Sea Transport (a safety test of marshall's guns?)

[papau]

"teams of undercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers will fan out to bus and train stations, ferries, and mass transit facilities across the country this week in a new test program to conduct surveillance and 'counter potential criminal terrorist activity in all modes of transportation,'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/13/AR2005121301709.html

Marshals To Patrol Land, Sea Transport
TSA Test Includes Surveillance Teams On Metro System

By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 14, 2005; Page A01

Teams of undercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers will fan out to bus and train stations, ferries, and mass transit facilities across the country this week in a new test program to conduct surveillance and "counter potential criminal terrorist activity in all modes of transportation," according to internal federal documents.

According to internal Transportation Security Administration documents, the program calls for newly created "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response" teams -- called "Viper" teams -- to take positions in public areas along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and Los Angeles rail lines; ferries in Washington state; and mass transit systems in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Viper teams will also patrol the Washington Metro system.

A Viper team will consist of two air marshals, one TSA bomb-sniffing-canine team, one or two transportation security inspectors, one local law enforcement officer, and one other TSA employee. Some members of the team will be obvious to the traveling public and wear jackets bearing the TSA name on the back. Others will be plainclothes air marshals scanning the crowds for suspicious people. It is unclear how many Viper teams will be on patrol through the New Year holiday, but air marshal officials confirm that they will be at seven locations across the country.

"TSA is going to extend its outreach into other modes of transportation," said David Adams, spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service. "We think this is a very good approach to test our tools and quickly deploy resources in the event of a situation or a threat. It shows we could be at any of these places."<snip>

[leveymg]

1. Does this mean that if I run for my train, I can expect

to be shot in the back?

This announcement, coming right after the Atlanta Airport shooting, gives me lots of confidence in the safety of the American mass transportation system.

I think I'd rather drive, and deal with the drunks in urban assault vehicles.

[papau]

2. That is what I was thinking also - a way to use more gas! :-)

:-)