New TSA Surveillance Tactic Curtailed

Officials Confused Over Test of Air Marshals at Transit Hubs; Metro Not in Program

Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) on "Viper" teams: "We don't want to take away from aviation." (Ray Lustig - Ray Lustig -- The Washington Post)

Just two days into an experimental program that would place undercover air marshals in train, bus, ferry and other mass transit stations, the Transportation Security Administration yesterday said its test has been scaled back, owing to confusion over the rollout.

TSA officials had planned to deploy teams of air marshals, local law enforcement officers and bomb-sniffing dogs at seven locations around the nation this week to test whether the agency could deter criminals in public transportation stations and conduct surveillance of suspicious activity.

Yesterday, local officials at some of the locations -- including Washington's Metro system -- said they were not participating in the program, and at least one other appeared not to have been informed.

"We didn't think we'd have enough time with this idea," said Sgt. Monica Hunter, spokeswoman for the Washington State Patrol. Hunter added that the state police would like to work with TSA in the future, but "it's not something we'd want to rush into."

TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark also said the air marshal teams, known as "Viper," for Visible Intermodal Protection and Response, would not be present in the Washington Metro system. "That was our oversight," she said, adding that a Viper team has been deployed to patrol Union Station on Amtrak but not the Metro. "I think there was some confusion about who was responsible for the Union Station piece."

Viper teams use both uniformed and covert personnel to try to deter criminal activity in busy public transportation stations. Some members of the team will wear TSA jackets and patrol the terminals and stations with bomb-sniffing dogs. Air marshals in plain clothes will conduct surveillance on people who appear to flee the area upon noticing the uniformed officers.

Federal Air Marshal Service spokesman David Adams said Tuesday that Viper teams would be deployed at rail and mass transit facilities in Philadelphia, but a member of Congress who represents the district said yesterday that some local officials were not notified.

The transit officials were "somewhat hostile to the idea of air marshals being in the transit system," said Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (D). "They said working in rapid transit or a passenger rail system is different than working in a closed system of the airport. My question I'm going to raise with the TSA is: Are they coordinating with [the] local transit authority?"

TSA officials said they notified all local transit and transportation agencies that would be participating with the Viper teams.

Several security experts and members of Congress expressed concern about the TSA's plans to deploy more Viper teams beyond the week-long experiment. Many said they support the agency's effort to increase security at major subway, rail and bus stations in the wake of terrorist bombings in Madrid and London. But at the same time, some experts expressed concern that air marshals will be diverted from their role to protect aircraft.

"We have identified these other transportation modes as having been, thus far, neglected," said Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security. "So from that perspective, I welcome this. But it needs to be linked to an increase in the size of the [air marshal] service. We don't want to take away from aviation."

The TSA has not completed a security-risk assessment of all modes of transportation. Until that happens, "we really don't have a good idea how much we ought to be allocating to air versus rail versus other modes of transportation," said K. Jack Riley, transportation security expert at Rand Corp.