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TSA Agents On Patrol at Union Station to Conduct "Suspicionless" Spot Searches
Photo by LU5H.bunny via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Have you noticed Transportation Security Administration making spot checks on passengers at Union Station? If you haven't, you may soon, since the agency has been ramping up their presence at some of the nation's busiest rail hubs, including L.A.'s historic Union Station.
"As many as 25 VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention & Response) teams began patrolling train stations nationwide last summer conducting an estimated 9,300 'suspicionless' spot searches of travelers," reports CBS2.
Those searches may happen when passengers step off a train into the station, instead of the more expected pre-boarding search. The TSA says they believe "the presence of officers with explosive detection dogs, radiation monitors and other devices will act as a deterrent" inside transit hubs like train stations.
For some passengers, seeing TSA agents is a comfort. Others believe the "suspicionless" searches are an invasion of privacy.
The TSA will be adding 12 more teams of officers on VIPR duty around the country next year.
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