The London attacks: training to respond in a mass transit environment: hearing before the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science, and ... One Hundred Ninth Congress, first se

The London attacks: training to respond in a mass transit environment: hearing before the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science, and ... One Hundred Ninth Congress, first se Review

LC Number: KF27 .H573 2005b OCLC Number: (OCoLC)70680805 Subject: Local transit -- Security measures -- United States. Excerpt: ...ising attackers anonymity and easy escape. And attacks on mass transit, the circulatory systems of urban areas, can cause widespread fear to really disrupt economic activity and kill or injure large numbers of people. Addressing transit security is complicated by the nature and scope of mass transit. More than 6,000 agencies provide mass transit services, such as bus, subway, ferry and light rail--more than 26 million Americans on a daily basis. And to remain competitive, transit agencies must offer convenient, inexpensive and quality service. The deployment of metal detectors, X-ray machines, explosive detection devices, enhanced searches of passengers and baggage, which of course are accepted now at airports, cannot be transferred easily to subway and/or bus stops. Delays would be enormous and the costs would be extremely large and mass transit could in fact grind to a halt. But that does not mean that we should not be doing more to increase security. It is difficult and it is vulnerable, but it does not mean we should stand back and do nothing more. To the contrary, mass transit systems can develop many effective countermeasures to make attacks more difficult, increase the likelihood of detection, minimize casualties and disruption and reduce panic. Many measures involve only modest expense. Improving liaison with state and local first responders, conducting vulnerability and security assessments, establishing emergency management plans, instituting preventive controls, holding tabletop exercises and full-scale drills, and putting in place procedures to handling bomb threats and left or suspicious objects are not particularly costly undertakings. Just this weekend, in fact, I met a retired New York City police officer who mentioned the possibility--I am going to ask this of the M...