MARTA Police Officer Receives Governor's Award

The Governor's Public Safety Award Program was established by then Governor of Georgia (now Senator) Zell Miller in 1997. Awards are given for outstanding performance in all areas of public safety, including police, fire, EMS, emergency manage-ment, and 911 communications centers. When the awards were first presented in 1997, two Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) Police Officers jointly received an award for heroism. The 2000 recipient of the heroism award, pre-sented on October 25, was once again a MARTA Police Officer, Eric L. Brown, an Atlanta native who has served with the MARTA Police for seven years.

While at home off duty, Officer Brown heard a disturbance, took his service weapon, and went to investigate. He confronted an armed man leaving another apartment. When Officer Brown identified himself as a police officer, the man turned and pointed a gun at him. Officer Brown fired two shuts striking him in the shoulder. The man got into a car and drove away. Officer Brown entered the apartment and found three women who had been shot. He dialed 911, requested EMS assistance for the women, and provided information on the vehicle. While wait-ing for assistance to arrive, he gave first aid to the victims, all of whom later died. The man who shot the women was quickly found and arrested.

Officer Brown exhibited great personal courage, restraint, and professionalism in handling an extremely dangerous situation. As a result of this incident, he also received the MARTA Police Department Medal of Valor.

MBTA Police Put Wrapped Bus to Good Use. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police are using a "wrapped" bus as an effective surveillance post at bus terminals experiencing gang-related violence. Recently, MBTA anti-crime officers arrested several individuals with knives who were observed from the bus by undercover officers as they attacked a young male in a gang retaliation incident. If any other transit agencies have been successful using "wrapped" buses as surveillance posts, or if you would like additional in-formation, contact Deputy Chief Fleming at wfleming@mbta.com.

Six Die of Sarin Gas. That was the scenario on August 20, 2000, as the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority Police were trained in the Northeast Ohio Domestic Preparedness Training Program. Using the scenario of a terrorist attack at Burke Lakefront Airport, the Transit Police joined the Cleveland Fire Division, Cleveland Police, FBI, and state and county offices in this practice and self-evaluation. For further information, contact Bernard L Buckner at 215, 781-4841.

New Director of the FTA Office of Safety and Security. The Federal Transit Administration Office of Safety and Security is pleased to announce the arrival of a new Director, Harry Saporta. Mr. Saporta reported for duty on November 27, 2000, having most recently been at the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (Tri-Met) where for 19 years he served as Manager of Safety Programs. In this capacity, he was directly responsible for the system safety program for bus and light rail maintenance and operations and construction safety. He was also responsible for management of the drug and alcohol testing program, safety certification, design review of new bus and rail systems, and emergency management. Mr. Saporta can be reached at 202, 366-2896.

New BART Police Chief Selected. General Manager Thomas Margro of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) announced in November that he had selected Commander Gary Gee as Chief of Police to replace Chief Harold Taylor who retired effective November 30. Com-mander Gee has been with the BART police force since it was established in 1973. Prior to joining BART, he had spent some 5½ years on the police departments of the cities of Sausalito and San Rafael, California

We want to take this opportunity to congratulate Chief Gee and send our best wishes for a long and happy retirement to Chief Taylor.

Former Amtrak Police Chief Dies. Former Amtrak Police Chief Thomas J. Sardino died at age 72 on July 14, 2000, after suffering a heart attack. Chief Sardino joined the Syracuse, New York, Police Department in the 1950's and was Chief of Police for 15 years before joining Am-trak as head of their police department in 1985. While in Syra-cuse, his innovative work in law enforcement included pioneering work in community policing. He also started the city's first neighborhood watch program in 1978. He left Amtrak in 1994 after suffering a stroke. He was a past president of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

PRISMATICA. We have received a request from a Portuguese consortium, PRISMATICA, made up of research and public transport organizations in the European Union which investigate public transport and security. A major goal of this project is to prepare a guide of best practices using various technical and nontechnical solutions to improve security in public transport (e.g., procedures, training, communication, situational crime prevention, and ergonomics).

PRISMATICA is asking for any assistance which readers of this newsletter may be able to provide on the following: (a) Reports, articles, websites, case studies, examples, etc., for best practices on ergonomics and design of public transport stations, stops, and vehicles to assist in reducing criminal offenses; and (b) reports, articles, websites, case studies, examples, etc., of best practices regarding staff management and training. This latter includes inter- and intra-organizational arrangements, chains of com-mand, task allocation and specification, and technical support.

If you can be of any assistance, please contact Sr. Manolo de la Fuente, TIS.pt, Av. 5 de Outubro, No. 75 - 7º, 1050, Lisbon, Portugal (+351 21 359 30 20; Fax: +351 21 359 30 21; E-mail: manolo.Fuentes@tis.pt)

Meetings

1/7-11/01 Transportation Research Board 80th Annual Meet-ing, Washington, DC (202, 334-2934; Fax: 334-2003)

1/18-19/01 Security and Design Magazine High Security Con-ference and Expo, Atlanta, GA (800, 243-9774)

5/5-10/01 American Public Transportation Association Bus Operations and Technology Conference, Calgary, Alberta (202, 898-4000)

5/20-25/01 International Union of Public Transport Interna-tional Congress and City Transport Exhibition, London, Eng-land (+32 2 663 6654; Fax: 660 1072; E-mail: events@uitp.com0

9/30-10-4/01 American Public Transportation Association An-nual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (202, 848-8040)

6/2-6/01 Canadian Urban Transportation Association An-nual Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia (416, 365-9800)

10/27-31/01 107th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Toronto, Ontario (800, THE IACP)

Training

1/16-19/01 Effectively Managing Transit Emergencies, Seat-tle, WA, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

2/6/01 Threat Management and Emergency Response to Bus Hijackings Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

3/7/01 Threat Management and Emergency Response to Bus Hijackings Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

3/14-15/01 Bus Collision Casualty Extrication Seminar, Oak-land, CA, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

3/27-30/01 Threat Management and Emergency Response to Bus Hijackings Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/4-5/01 Fatigue Awareness Seminar, Austin, TX, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/10/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Trans-portation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/11/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Trans-portation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/17-18/01 Response to Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Transit Incidents (closed to outside participants), Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/24-27/01 Transit System Security, Salt Lake City, UT, Fed-eral Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

5/10-13/01 Congress and the Intelligence Community, Wash-ington, DC, Governmental Affairs Institute at Georgetown Uni-versity (202, 333-4834; Fax: 333-8165)

5/22-23/01 Response to Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Transit Incidents (closed to outside participants), Seattle, WA, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Insti-tute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

7/10/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Phoenix, AZ, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

7/10-13/01 Effectively Managing Transit Emergencies, Aus-tin, TX, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

7/11/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Phoenix, AZ, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

8/14/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Trans-portation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

8/15/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Trans-portation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

8/21-24/01 Transit System Security, Detroit, MI, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

9/10-21/01 Collision Investigation for Transit Police and Law Enforcement, Oklahoma City, OK, Federal Transit Administra-tion and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

9/11-12/01 Fatigue Awareness Seminar, Oakland, CA, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

IACP Training. Attached for your information is a list of courses offered in 2001 by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Resources. Following is a list of resources that may be of interest:

Let Us Hear From You. If you have any activities that would be of interest regarding transit security, a staff member whom you want to commend for some outstanding or heroic action, or just about anything dealing with transit security, please let us hear from you. Fax your material to the number below--we will find a place for it in the newsletter.

Address Corrections. If you note any inaccuracies on the address label, please fax or E-mail corrections to the number below along with your phone and Fax numbers and E-mail address.

Note: Information for this newsletter may be sent to Edith Rodano, Office of Safety and Security, Federal Transit Administration, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, D. C. 20590 (202, 366-0191; Fax: 366-7951) or Edith.Rodano@fta.dot.gov by June 15, 2000.