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CASE STUDIES
Security Efforts: Self-Assessments and Partnerships
BY SUSAN BERLIN, Senior Editor

Earlier this year, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) honored 17 public transportation and rail agencies across the U.S. for achieving the “Gold Standard,” or highest rating, on its latest TSA Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement.

What can public transportation agencies do to reach this level of security for both their employees and their passengers? Two of the honored organizations shared their experiences.

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
John P. Joyce, chief of police for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, provided an outline to help public transportation agencies institute or improve their security efforts.

“I would suggest that the agency start with self-assessment. They should assess where they are and what their security posture is right now. Then they can identify the gaps between where they are and where they want to be,” he said, noting that a visit to the TSA website is a good first step.

Joyce suggested beginning by creating an umbrella emergency operations plan, “a system-wide plan that could deal with a whole host of possible scenarios, from natural disasters to terrorism.” Other preliminary efforts could include instituting access control to public transit facilities and implementing background investigations for employees.

Small public transit agencies with limited internal resources can look to TSA for help with their security plans, Joyce said. Additionally, agency representatives can contact federal Transportation Security Inspectors who have received training on both airport and public transit security measures.

Another partnership for public transit systems to forge is with municipal emergency management agencies. “You’ll need a place at the table,” Joyce said. “Work with these people so they understand what your security gaps are and that the problem is not only yours, but that of the whole region.”

Central Ohio Transit Authority
In Columbus, OH, the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA) responded to assaults on its bus operators in 2005 by creating a Security Committee with representatives of the agency’s security department and the Columbus Police Department.

“Some people would board the bus without the correct fare. When they were challenged, they would assault the operator—sometimes it was as simple as spitting at or throwing a drink on the operator—and then take off running,” said Stan Alverson, COTA director of safety and security. “Once the Security Committee started meeting on a monthly basis, we started placing uniformed officers on the affected routes during non-rush hours and plainclothes officers during rush hours.”

COTA also partnered with TSA to begin implementing Visual Intermodal Preventative Response teams (VIPRs), which deal with specific security concerns. A VIPR may include federal air marshals, TSA agents, behavioral specialists, bomb specialists, special duty officers, and K-9 teams trained to sniff out drugs or explosives.

“The teams set up in the busiest parts of downtown Columbus,” Alverson explained. “COTA operates 1,400 buses in downtown area every day, so the team will board the bus with its dogs. We’ve seen incidents when, as the bus pulled up and people on board would see the officers and the dogs, they would throw drugs and weapons out the bus windows.”

 

John P. Joyce, center, chief, GCRTA Transit Police, accepts the TSA Gold Standard Award from Fred Goodine, left, TSA assistant deputy general manager and branch chief for stakeholder relations, and Mike Young, TSA federal security director.

 

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