By Michael Hill
Correspondent
Members of Congress — including Donald Payne Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman — held a field hearing at New Jersey City University on protecting passengers and preventing and preparing for terrorism at rail and bus stations in New Jersey and New York.
“Since I joined the committee on Homeland Security in 2013, I’ve focused my efforts on making sure people are safe in the places they should be safe. Whether it is in a school, at a nightclub or sporting event or on a train or getting to work,” Payne said.
The Congressional Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and Response wanted to hear what Amtrak, the Port Authority, NJ Transit and other agencies have voluntarily done to protect their riders and stations.
Among the Port Authority’s arsenal of protection: “Our policing methods include of course: routine patrols, high visibility emergency services unit deployment, the deployment of dedicated counterterrorism teams as well as the assignment of explosive-detecting canines and radiation-detecting capabilities,” said Port Authority Chief Security Officer Thomas Belfiore.
NJ Transit’s Chief of Police Christopher Trucillo said those units are effective beyond what commuters see.
“But their presence, as we’ve come to learn, provides effective disciple deterrent against our adversaries,” he said.
In their statements in questions the members of Congress and the panelists all cited 9/11 multiple times along with the attacks in Brussels, Paris and even Orlando.
“Brussels, Paris and Orlando prove to us that we must now more than ever be prepared to address the ever growing, ever evolving more lethal threats,” Belfiore said.
“These attacks underscore the importance of building upon our service transportation successes through stakeholder communication, coordination and collaboration,” said TSA Office of Security Policy and Industry Engagement Surface Division Director Sonya Proctor.
The federal government has given local and regional agencies millions of dollars since 9/11 to bolster security but Amtrak’s Deputy Police Chief Martin Conway said, “Our chief often says aviation gets billions and rail gets millions.”
As recent attacks loomed large here, another official said a third of the terrorist attacks in the world target transit systems.
“Although major terrorist attacks like those on transit systems and other parts of the world have no not occurred in the United States, chances prove exceedingly high,” said Jersey City Emergency Management and Homeland Security Director Sgt. W. Greg Kierce.
And the Port Authority says the Brussels attack will lead to new training of its employees.
“Three components of the train: one would be what to see, what to say, who to say it to and how to say it,” Belfiore said.
A lesson learned from afar.