To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. THE NATION'S STRAPHANGERS CAN TAKE HEART—THERE'S A NEW FOCUS ON PROTECTING THEIR DAILY COMMUTE AFTER YEARS OF TAKING A BACK SEAT TO AVIATION SECURITY, MASS TRANSIT SECURITY IS GETTING NEW ATTENTION FROM THE ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AND CONGRESS—AND THEY HAVE MADE CLEAR THAT THEY INTEND TO DIRECT MORE RESOURCES TOWARD IT. In January, Senate Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said his committee will put a spotlight on rail and transit security. In his opening remarks at the Jan. 15 hearing on Obama’s nomination of Janet Napolitano to be homeland security secretary, Lieberman said, “We have some priorities and unfinished business . rail and transit.” Napolitano agreed. “We haven’t done as much there as we have done on the aviation” side, she said, promising that correcting the lopsidedness would be a priority as homeland security secretary. On her first official day as secretary, Napolitano directed TSA to provide her with a review of current strategies, plans and programs for surface transportation security and a side-by-side comparison of the threat environment, resources and personnel devoted to security. Napolitano said she plans to expand TSA’s efforts to secure mass transit and believes TSA’s recent rail security guidelines should be mandatory, with penalties imposed against systems that do not comply. The guidelines require passenger rail carriers to designate rail security coordinators and report significant security concerns to TSA. The rule also codifies TSA’s broad inspection authority. While the guidelines are not unduly burdensome to implement, they do require improvement of security planning, transit employee training in security awareness and regularly scheduled security inspections. But critics are concerned that keeping the guidelines voluntary leaves compliance to the whims of transit officials. According to a June 2008 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General’s (IG) report, TSA’s Administration and Coordination of Mass Transit Security Programs (http://www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/ OIG_08-66_Jun08.pdf), on DHS’ administration and coordination of mass transit security programs, many of the nation’s major passenger rail systems had not met previous TSA security guidelines. The IG reported 37 of the nation’s 48 largest transit systems weren’t complying with voluntary guidelines that were established in 2007. Transit Police Patrolman Vladimir Vaval (rear), State Police Trooper Peter Velez (center), and Transit Police Patrol officer Cindy Garcia (foreground) work as a team, patrolling a New Jersey Transit commuter train from Newark to New York as part of a New Jersey homeland security effort. Inherently vulnerable “As recent overseas attacks have shown, subway and commuter rail systems are inherently vulnerable to terrorism,” the IG stated in the report. “A large system can have more than 100 stations, each with multiple station entrances HSToday Magazine | April 2009 Register online today for exclusive online content and eNewsletters 21