The legality of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams Teams have been questioned by many, although authorized under 6 U.S.C. § 1112 , stating that the mission is to “augment the security of any mode of transportation at any location within the United States,” even a Department of Homeland Security (DHS)…
Today’s reader mail comes from Vincent R., from Springfield, Massachusetts. Vincent writes “I have noticed the TSA in my local Amtrak station during the past few months. Amtrak Police refer to these uniformed TSA officers as TSA VIPR Teams. What exactly are they doing?” Well Vincent, over the past few years there has been…
As the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to expand the deployment of its Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) Teams, it is also increasingly mentioning Federal Air Marshals (FAM) as part of the agency’s ground based, non-airport focused, and security operation. Looking past the legally questionable aspects of the TSA’s deployment of VIPR Teams,…
A few days ago I wrote about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams, addressing the effectiveness and legal questionability of the TSA VIPR Program, in this post TSA VIPR Teams – Increase A Legally Questionable Failing Program. This morning I received an email from a Department of Homeland…
In the spring of 2004, following the commuter rail bombings in Madrid, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began devising a plan to “protect the Nation’s transportation systems and ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce,” for the railroads and mass transit systems in the United States. The result of the TSA’s efforts to increase…
Recently Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced House Resolution 3608, the Stop TSA’s Reach In Policy Act … also known as the STRIP Act, which would “strip” Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Transportation Security Officers (TSO) of their “police like” badges and “law enforcement” uniforms. Before we can go forward in discussing Rep. Blackburn’s STRIP Act,…
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) frequently issues similar warnings. Over the agency’s nearly ten years in existence a pattern has emerged of not only the unsubstantiated travel security warnings the agency issues, but the timing of these warnings … with near Swiss precision. With the busy winter holiday travel season set to begin in…
POST EDITED ON 10-MARCH-2011 : CORRECT AN ERROR IN THE FINANCIAL NUMBERS CAUSED BY A SPELL CHECKER The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) budget is enormous, but is the agency prioritizing and allocating its funds in the most effective manner? At present the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lists the TSA’s budget at US$8,164,780,000 with US$7,910,780,000…
