TSA sends VIPER teams to protect transit sites on July 4

By Michael J. Sniffen
Press Telegram
Jul. 04, 2007

WASHINGTON - Some of the armed officers with dogs that turned up this week around airports, subways and bus stops are part of special Transportation Security Administration teams sent to protect mass transit sites over the July Fourth holiday.

TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said Tuesday that "VIPER" teams were sent to guard facilities in the nation's capital and in Baltimore, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

She said, "It's not just because of the attacks in England. Some were planned this week anyway, but I won't deny the English car bombs affected the decision."

She said there is "no credible, specific threat for the Fourth."

The teams were designed "to provide a visible deterrent along with local police," she said, and have regularly been sent out since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks "for special events wherever there are crowds - holidays, the Super Bowl, President Ford's funeral."

In fact, the agency has conducted 84 VIPER missions in the last 18 months. The acronym stands for "Visible Intermodal Protection and Response."

The teams include canine teams, Transportation Security officers trained in behavior observation, air marshal supervisors, air marshals not scheduled for flights, surface transportation security inspectors and local police.