NYPD and Amtrak Discuss Security Concerns

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly recently hosted a meeting of law enforcement officials whose agencies comprise the Northeast Corridor Coalition, to discuss security issues along the Amtrak rail line between New York and Washington, D.C.

In attendance were Amtrak Police Department Chief John J. O'Connor, Amtrak Chief Operating Officer William Crosbie and senior executives from the Amtrak office of Security Strategy and Special Operations, as well as representatives from the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Maryland Transportation Authority Police Department, Maryland Transportation Administration Police Force, Baltimore City Police Department, the Delaware State Police Criminal Intelligence Section, Philadelphia State Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, New Jersey Transit Police Department, and New Jersey State Police.

In addition, the NYPD works with the Metropolitan Transit Authority (Long Island Rail Road) and Port Authority to help secure other mass transit service in the region.

Amtrak this month began deploying Mobile Security Teams consisting of specially trained uniformed Amtrak Police, counter-terrorism agents, and K-9 units to patrol stations and trains, and conduct random screening of passengers and inspection of carry-on items and cars in addition to existing identification and security checks. Its Northeast Corridor trains service over 13 million riders annually.

Next month heavily armed teams of NYPD officers will join existing transit patrols to supplement security measures at major transportation hubs, including stations at Grand Central, Penn Station, Herald Square, Times Square, Columbus Circle, Rockefeller Center, South Ferry, World Trade Center, Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and Jamaica Station in Queens. The NYPD began conducting random bag checks in 2005, the same year that the Northeast Corridor Coalition was formed.