VIPR Teams Enhance Security at Major Local Transportation Facilities
News & Happenings
June 20, 2007
Officers from T. F. Green Airport (Providence,
R.I.) observe passengers boarding the Point
Judith to Block Island Ferry as a Coast Guard
petty officer and two TSA surface
transportation security inspectors look on.
Photo by Bob Thorne.
Following the Madrid train bombings, TSA stepped up its efforts to enhance security on rail and mass transit systems nationwide by creating and deploying Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams. Comprised of federal air marshals, surface transportation security inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers and explosives detection canine teams, VIPR teams over the past two years have augmented security at key transportation facilities in urban areas around the country, including New York City, Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y., Los Angeles, Boston and Providence, R.I.
VIPR teams work with local security and law enforcement officials to supplement existing security resources, provide deterrent presence and detection capabilities, and introduce an element of unpredictability to disrupt potential terrorist planning activities.
Looking to expand the VIPR concept beyond the rail sector to other forms of mass transit, TSA has been reaching out to several high-volume ferry operators to provide additional security, particularly during the summer months when ridership is at its peak.
Just before Memorial Day 2007, VIPR teams were dispatched to the Point Judith (Block Island) Ferry Terminal in Rhode Island and the Cape May-Lewes Ferry in Cape May, N.J. Travelers taking the ferry to Martha's Vineyard out of Woods Hole, Mass. this summer can also expect to see VIPR teams in and around the ferry terminal.
When asked about benefits of VIPR operations around highly-traveled transportation systems in the greater-Providence area, Joseph S. Salter, TSA's federal security director for Rhode Island, said, "VIPR teams improve interagency communications and our ability to leverage resources quickly. Working closely with our transportation partners and law enforcement, we're ensuring resources are deployed efficiently and in a complementary fashion, providing an effective first line of defense against terrorism."
