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TSA Supports VIPR Missions in Philadelphia

News & Happenings

July 3, 2007

In Philadelphia on July 3, more than two dozen federal air marshals (FAMs), transportation security inspectors and transportation security officers (TSOs) fanned out at transportation facilities across the city for Visual Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) operations. This week VIPR teams will also be at airports and mass transit systems in the National Capitol Region (Washington), New York, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

VIPR teams are designed to enhance security by working in mass transit, aviation, rail and other transportation modes along side local law enforcement agencies during specific periods of time or events. The exact makeup of teams is determined jointly with local authorities. During the past 18 months, TSA has partnered with local law enforcement to conduct 84 VIPR missions from coast to coast.

The Philadelphia teams worked in concert with police departments for the airport, Amtrak and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to increase visibility, heighten vigilance and complement law enforcement efforts.

At the 30th Street Train Station, canine teams, uniformed inspectors and covert FAMS patrolled the busy station, as did similar teams at the Market East facility. At the airport, VIPR teams on the curb at every terminal, in ticketing lobbies and at secure area vehicle access gates also included TSOs, some trained in TSA's behavior detection techniques.

TSA surged VIPR teams to Philadelphia for Independence Day last year, screening Amtrak passengers at the 30th Street Station.

VIPR teams enhance TSA's ability to leverage a variety of resources quickly to increase visible security in any mode of transportation anywhere in the country and are a normal component of TSA's nimble, unpredictable approach to security.