TSA Spreads to Trains, Subways, Bus Terminals and Ferries

Wednesday, January 04, 2012
(photo: TSA)
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) wants it to be clear that it is not the “Airport Security Administration.”
 
These days, special teams of TSA officials can be seen appearing randomly at the country’s train stations, bus depots and ferry launches. Twenty-five “viper” (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) teams have made 9,300 unannounced visits at various transportation centers around the U.S. These included testing passenger bags for explosive residue at a Greyhound station in Orlando, Florida; inspecting trucks at weigh stations in Tennessee; checking passengers of cruise ships in the Carolinas; and inspecting spectators at NASCAR races and tourists boarding ferries in North Carolina.
 
The Department of Homeland Security says the viper teams should be expanded in number and has requested funding for about a 50% increase.  The FY 2011 TSA budget for non-airport operations (a.k.a. “surface transportation security”) was $110 million.
 
Federal officials won’t say if the TSA has foiled any terrorist attacks outside airports. But  terrorist attacks on trains and subways have occurred in Spain, Russia, India and England.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
 
TSA Screenings Aren't Just for Airports Anymore (by Brian Bennett, Los Angeles Times)

Tennessee First State to Allow TSA Highway Random Search Program (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov) 

Comments

kris 12 years ago
i can't find the article, it's in a rail mag, but the same thing author writes in it happened to me. tsa(?)dhs? staring intently at passengers on light rail/public transportation.then they try to get you to "talk". i shudder to think what they hope slips from your tongue. some anti-gov comment perhaps? enough to get you arrested and sent to one of the "indefinite detention camps"?
Bob 12 years ago
stasi is right, fisher1949. police state is right. americans will never say enough, freedomfighter1945. it's too late. our rights have been stolen and what we have lost will never be regained. this experiment in democracy has failed. fourth amendment to the united states constitution "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." animal farm http://www.george-orwell.org/animal_farm/index.html "chapter ii the seven commandments 1. whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy. 2. whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend. 3. no animal shall wear clothes. 4. no animal shall sleep in a bed. 5. no animal shall drink alcohol. 6. no animal shall kill any other animal. 7. all animals are equal. chapter x years passed. the seasons came and went, the short animal lives fled by. a time came when there was no one who remembered the old days before the rebellion, except clover, benjamin, moses the raven, and a number of the pigs. ... benjamin felt a nose nuzzling at his shoulder. he looked round. it was clover. her old eyes looked dimmer than ever. without saying anything, she tugged gently at his mane and led him round to the end of the big barn, where the seven commandments were written. for a minute or two they stood gazing at the tatted wall with its white lettering. "my sight is failing," she said finally. "even when i was young i could not have read what was written there. but it appears to me that that wall looks different. are the seven commandments the same as they used to be, benjamin?" for once benjamin consented to break his rule, and he read out to her what was written on the wall. there was nothing there now except a single commandment. it ran: all animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others"
Rocco Giuliano 12 years ago
yes, subways have been attacked in russia, spain, india and england. and none of these countries harasses, strip searches, and gropes passengers the way tsa does. in general, the public goes about their business, refusing to do the terrorists' work by acting like panic stricken, cowardly sheep.
Fisher1949 12 years ago
the american citizen is under attack by their own government. now we have descended into a complete police state, where anyone can be asked for their papers, have their person or property searched and detained, all without a warrant or due process. welcome to stasi america. papers please.
Joshua Grigonis 12 years ago
just what we need. more wasted money on security theater.
freedomfighter1945 12 years ago
what will it take & when will americans say enough? just stop cooperating by the masses, peacefully of course. look at what ghandi and martin accomplished. just watch out for agent provocateurs who wish to incite violence so the military (can you believe it?) can be called in to police their own citizens.
Thomas Jefferson 12 years ago
amendment iv the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
gunboat 12 years ago
welcome to the new soviet union. comrades.

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