WASHINGTON — Federal air marshals are expanding their work beyond airplanes, beginning counterterror surveillance at bus and train stations and mass transit facilities in a three-day test.
As of Wednesday, the Transportation Security Administration said, teams of undercover air marshals and uniformed law enforcement officers were arriving at the new posts.
“We just want to develop the capability to enhance security outside of aviation,” said air marshal spokesman David Adams.
The so-called “Visible Intermodal Protection and Response” teams — or VIPER teams — will patrol mass transit and rail systems in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington and Los Angeles; mass transit in Atlanta and bus facilities in Houston, according to TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser.
These are all cities that have shown up in past threats. Funny how this "three-day test" is coming just around the Iraqi election. It's as if they're bracing us for something big.