The news of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s assassination sent local law enforcement officials in the Washington region scrambling to step up security Monday in case of a retaliatory attack. Transportation officials in the nation’s capital increased their efforts especially since a strike to their systems could cripple the federal government, which relies on their trains and buses to get workers to their jobs.
But officials cautioned that no threats had been made directly to the region.
| See something, say something |
| Local transportation agencies advise their riders to keep an eye out for anything unusual. If riders see something, the agencies ask them to find an employee or call for help. |
| • Metro: 202-962-2121 |
| • Maryland MARC (statewide terrorism hotline): 1-800-492-TIPS ( 1-800-492-8477) |
| • Virginia Railway Express: 911 |
“This increase is not related to any specific threat to our system, rather it is out of an abundance of caution,” Metro Police Chief Michael Taborn said Monday.
Officials were generally coy about their tactics, saying that surprise and randomness are their best deterrents. But they said travelers from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport to Amtrak’s Union Station to Virginia Railway Express trains to Metrobuses could expect to see more uniformed officers.
Taborn said similar efforts were extending nationwide at other mass transit agencies. Representatives of the Transportation Security Administration and police chiefs from Metro and the 24 other largest transit agencies around the country held two conference calls to coordinate their efforts, Taborn said.
“This is just the thing we know we all need to do,” he said.
Amtrak planned to ensure full staffing of its K-9 teams at major hubs such as Union Station, including its specially trained “vapor wake” dogs that can detect the smell of explosives left behind by a person carrying bombs.
The TSA warned air travelers to expect to see explosives detection, more bag checks, random gate screening, K-9 teams and behavior detection officers. The State Department put out a worldwide travel alert, telling U.S. citizens in areas prone to anti-American violence to limit their travel and avoid mass gatherings and demonstrations.
Metro is partnering with local law enforcement agencies to monitor its 86 rail stations and thousands of bus stops. Taborn said Metro could decide to do more of its controversial random bag checks.
The transit agency also is taking other steps that are “invisible to the public,” Taborn said.
D.C. police are on heightened security and are working with federal and local law enforcement agencies to put additional eyes on the city’s transportation network, along with mosques and synagogues, Chief Cathy Lanier said during a live online chat on the Washington Post’s website Monday afternoon.
She and others played down questions that such efforts will take away from crime-fighting efforts elsewhere.
It not clear how long the heightened security will last. It’s also not clear how much it will cost.
Metro officials said they do not believe the extra enforcement will hurt the agency’s strained budget yet, but the TSA may decide to give grants to help. Metro alone has benefited from some $100 million in federal security grants in recent years but says it could use more. “We would be ever grateful,” Taborn said.
Officials said they alerted their employees to remain on alert. But they also are relying on riders.
“More than anything we’re certainly asking our passengers to have more vigilance,” said VRE spokesman Mark Roeber.
They told riders to keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place, whether that’s a bag left behind or someone not acting right.
“People who ride the system regularly have a very good sense of what’s usual and unusual,” Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. “So if they see something of a suspicious nature, call police.”
Staff writer Freeman Klopott contributed to this report.
