[mabarker1]

VIPER?

[Michael.SF.]

Thank you. I was not aware of this and that certainly looks like the logical answer.

This was a big effort on their part.

[frog in a pot]

Interesting excerpts from your link:

The VIPR teams detain and search travelers…
In early 2011, a TSA VIPR detained and patted down people at an Amtrak station in Savannah, Georgia.
The incident became controversial because …officers were screening passengers as they were getting off trains, presumably after potential terrorists had detonated their explosives.
But, of course, there were no terrorists and no explosives were detonated.

Amtrak Police Chief John O'Connor described the TSA behavior as illegal, in violation of Amtrak policy, and simply nonsensical. The incident led Amtrak to temporarily ban VIPR teams from Amtrak property.
One wonders how Amtrak could deny the activity if it was clearly legal?

The GAO says VIPR was prompted by the 2004 Madrid train bombings.
Spain, of course, has nothing similar to the US Constitution.