VIPR

Encounters With A TSA VIPR Team & Is The Amtrak Logo Really A Security Risk?

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)…

Reader Mail : “TSA VIPR Teams, What Exactly Are They Doing?”

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…

The TSA’s Chicken Little Approach, Does It Work?

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…

DHS Lawyer : Travelers Need Not Submit To TSA 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…

TSA VIPR Teams – Increase A Legally Questionable Failing Program?

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…