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Precautions Are Stepped Up at South Florida Transport Systems

Posted on: Friday, 8 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 8--The preparations in Florida began before the sun came up.

Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, who heads the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force, and his top administrators were conferring with local, state and federal authorities on possible threats here.

The same thing was happening in Palm Beach County, where Chuck Cohen, executive director of PalmTran, was on the phone with the Department of Homeland Security, wondering what could be done to protect the bus system.

Officials learned there were no credible threats to the transportation systems of South Florida, or anywhere else in the United States. But that hardly mattered.

When South Floridians awoke to the news of four bombings on London subway trains and a bus, they would want to know what's being done to protect people at home.

Jenne, Cohen and dozens of other officials wanted to be able to provide solid answers.

"Miami-Dade County's emergency responders are working tirelessly to ensure that our residents and visitors are as safe as possible," said Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. "We continue to ready our emergency responders for these challenging times."

The "Orange Alert" issued by the Department of Homeland Security did not apply to the nation's airports, but Jenne dispatched extra deputies and bomb-sniffing dogs to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport anyway.

Commuters on Tri-Rail, PalmTran, Broward County Transit buses and Miami-Dade County's Metrorail and bus system were greeted Thursday by increased police visibility, dog patrols and security sweeps on vehicles and stations.

Security warnings were announced by conductors on Tri-Rail trains and posted on electronic message signs at stations.

Tri-Rail encouraged passengers to report unattended packages and unusual behavior.

The Transportation Security Administration at the airport loaned bomb-sniffing dogs to conduct random searches on Thursday evening's Tri-Rail trains, said Bonnie Arnold, spokeswoman for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.

"I don't sense a heightened level of concern from passengers," Arnold said, based on calls to the agency's customer service center.

Palm Beach Sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said deputies have been preparing ever since Sept. 11, 2001.

"We feel as prepared as we can be. The people responsible are already on high alert," he said. Miller pointed out that even the best security intelligence in the world couldn't thwart terrorism. "You have suicide bombers and people with the worst intentions," he said.

The story was similar across the state. Central Florida theme parks beefed up security, Space Coast Area Transit conducted extra bus sweeps and CSX Transportation reviewed its safety procedures with officials in Jacksonville.

The Orange Alert requires local governments to implement heightened security measures. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff gave no indication when it would be lifted.

Experts say it's smart to take every precaution.

While the population of South Florida is not as concentrated as London or New York City, the region does provide plenty of targets -- including air and sea ports -- that are potentially attractive to terrorists.

"I think you mobilize for good reason," said Gerry Leone, who led the anti-terrorism task force for the state of Massachusetts and the prosecution of Richard Reid, convicted of trying to blow up an airliner with a shoe bomb.

"Terrorists don't often stop at one isolated event.

"Strategically or symbolically, they often tie multiple attacks together."

But South Florida's rail and bus systems would be poor targets for terrorists because of their open design, said Luis Prieto-Portar, professor of engineering at Florida International University and former chief engineer for Metrorail.

"Explosives do very poorly in open spaces. They derive much of their strength due to confinement," Prieto-Portar said.

"The stations down here do not have the nooks and crannies that lend themselves to hiding packages.

"They're also less likely to have people be in places they shouldn't be."

David Shen, head of FIU's Lehman Center for Transportation Research, warned that the threat of a terrorist attack can never be completely eliminated.

"Having a Transportation Security Administration is like having a Department of Earthquake Prevention," he said.

Staff Writers Mireidy Fernandez, Brian Haas, Anthony Man and Michael Turnbell, and information from The Associated Press supplemented this report.

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CSX,

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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