TSA Announces Partnership with Nation's Largest Mass Transit System
News & Happenings
March 22, 2007
For the first time, TSA's transportation security officers, federal air marshals and surface transportation security inspectors will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts at New York state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to enhance security at the nation's largest mass transit system. TSA Deputy Administrator Robert Jamison, joined by MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander and dozens of other local and state law enforcement officers, made the announcement at a March 21 press conference held on a MTA platform in the Bronx.
"Our cooperation with MTA is integral to TSA's approach to mass transit security," said Jamison. "We are focused on our nation's high-risk, high-consequence rail systems and delivering visible, unpredictable deterrents to these systems."
TSA has conducted dozens of similar initiatives with mass transit partners over the last year in several other large cities, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia. While specific details of these New York deployments are still being developed, the additional TSA resources were strongly welcomed by both local and state officials.
"The MTA's top priority is ensuring that our customers enjoy the safest and most secure commutes possible," Sander said. "This combined deployment of MTA police and officers from a variety of federal and regional sources will give our commuter railroads the kind of police presence our customers deserve and the post-9/11 environment requires."
Initial efforts will focus on the MTA's Metro-North Line which serves areas northeast and northwest of New York City, and other outlying areas. The partnership is an element of the system's overall Directed Patrol Strategy, which seeks to increase law enforcement presence on MTA's commuter rail network.
