NICTD Police Officer Rescues Gary Woman

A 45-year old Gary woman, who was trespassing on a railroad bridge, was rescued by a Northern Indiana Commuter Transit District police officer after she became disoriented while at-tempting to walk across the bridge.

On Friday, January 19, 2001, at 5:48 p.m., alert South Shore Line engineers operating eastbound evening rush hour trains, notified NICTD Transit Police of a woman trespassing on rail-road property. NICTD Police Officer Michael Huston responded to the area and initially could not locate the woman. Officer Huston then made a secondary search of the area and observed a shadow on the elevated bridge that crosses over CSX tracks. Officer Huston climbed the embankment to the bridge and real-ized the shadow was a woman and that she was in a prone posi-tion with her arms and legs wrapped around a train rail. He called on his radio to halt all trains that would be operating across the bridge and then began to inch his way to the scream-ing woman who stated that she was afraid of heights and could not move. The officer was able to calm her and get her to release her grip on the rail. She did so and they began to make their way to safety when a CSX train came up under them, at which time the woman became very aggressive. Officer Huston had to struggle with her to prevent both of them from being thrown off the bridge and took her into custody. She was later transported to a mental health facility by Gary Police.

According to NICTD Police Chief Robert Byrd, "Officer Huston risked his own life to save a woman who clearly would have died had it not been for his alertness and persistence. What an incredible job!"

MARTA Chief of Police Wilson Promoted. One of the first actions of Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., new General Manager of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, was to form a transition team to review MARTA's organization and structure. As a result of the recommendations of the transition team's recommendations, the Police Department was repositioned within MARTA and the position Chief Ralph E. Wilson held for eleven years as Vice President/Chief of Police was reclassified and expanded. Chief Wilson has been promoted to the new position of Assistant General Manager for Police and System Safety. His responsibilities now include the Office of Safety as well as the Police Department. Also, as part of a significant organizational realignment, he now reports directly to the General Manager/CEO. Congratulations to Chief Wilson!

BART Police Commend Non-police Helpers. The Bay Area Rapid Transit District conducted its fifth annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, February 20. The ceremony included recognition for several citizens who assisted the Department during the past year. Award recipients included Peter Montoya, who was recognized for coming to the aid of James Quon, a fellow passenger. Mr. Quon suffered a heart attack on a train and lost consciousness. Mr. Montoya performed CPR until relieved by responding medical personnel who utilized a defibrillator to stabilize Mr. Quon Mr. Quon underwent a quadruple bypass after the event and was present at the ceremony to thank Mr. Montoya. Other award recipients included several citizens who came to the aid of officers involved in violent arrests. These recipients were Mr. Roy Smith and Mr. David Doyal who witnessed a BART Police Department sergeant struggling with a suspect adjacent to the freeway. Both citizens stopped their cars and immediately came to the aid of the sergeant, permitting the arrest to be accom-plished without injury. Mr. Timothy Edwards was ac-knowledged for his assistance in chasing a fleeing suspect who was also being pursued by a BART officer. Mr. Edwards caught the suspect who, in addition to the BART violations which caused the chase, also had three felony warrants for his arrest issued by adjoining jurisdictions.

Awards were also presented to BART non-police employees, including Peter Lechman who's quick response to a juvenile who had fallen onto the track prevented serious injuries. Mr. Lechman lifted the juvenile back onto the platform just as a train was arriving, avoiding a potential catastrophe. BART employee John Stamas was recognized for his actions in restraining a woman at the edge of the platform as she threatened to jump in front of an oncoming train. In addition, BART employee Bryan Tedford was recognized for coming to the aid of an officer who was involved in an arrest with a violently resistive suspect. The assistance of Mr. Tedford allowed the officer to accomplish the arrest without injury to himself or the suspect.

Police Department award recipients included Detective David Laursen who was recognized for his efforts in improving the working relationship and successful prosecutions undertaken through the Office of San Francisco's District Attorney. The Department also recognized several police managers and offi-cers, along with other BART employees, who participated in a task force on improved automated fare collection. The efforts of the task force resulted in lessened losses due to criminal activity associated with the purchase of fare tickets.

On February 27, the BART Police Department announced its Office of the Year for 2001. Officer Michael McLucas was se-lected by a joint committee of officers, non-sworn personnel, and managers to receive its top annual award. Officer McLucas has been with the BART Police Department for over 22 years after serving several years in municipal law enforcement. While with BART, he served in the capacity of traffic officer, canine handler, field training officer, and is part of the Department's hostage negotiation team. The Selection Committee recognized the constant efforts of Office McLucas throughout his tenure with the Department, including his representing the BART PD at police related events throughout the reason

TCRP Request for Synthesis Topics. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) has issues its annual request for synthesis topics. The closing date for submission of these topics is March 16. The number 1 strategic goal is safety and security.

Web Site-Disaster Response: Principles of Preparation and Coordination. This site is an online book which addresses disaster response. While not specifically looking at transportation issues, many of the chapters have lessons that can prove helpful to transportation practitioners. Some of these include, Interagency Communications, The Incident Command System, and Communication with the Public. It can be found at http://coe-dmha.org/dr/index.htm

Operation Respond. The Operation Respond Institute has developed a transportation emergency-information system for first responders known as OREIS. This system provides first responders with information to properly deal with safety and security incidents on railroads and highways. OREIS connects first responders to databases of railroad and motor carriers to provide hazardous materials content information for vehicles involved in an incident or accident. The connection is established through an onboard modem and supplies emergency information and guidance in a real time environment. For further information, contact the Operation Respond Institute, Inc., at 202, 548-0935; Fax: 548-0945; or www.oreis.org.

New Reports

Guidelines for Collecting, Analyzing, and Reporting Transit Crime Data, Transit Cooperative Research Program, January 2001, No. 41. TCRP digest of results of TCRP Project F-6A, "Developing Useful Transit-Related Crime and Incident Data." The final report is available as TCRP Web Document 18 on the Internet athttp://www4.national-academies.org/trb/crp.nsf.

1998 National Youth Gang Survey, Summary, U. S. Depart-ment of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention, November 2000.

Comprehensive Responses to Youth at Risk: Interim Findings from the Safe Futures Initiative, Summary, U. S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention, November 2000.

Copies of both publications are available by calling 800, 638-8736, 8:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday; by Fax at 410, 792-4358; On Line at www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org.

Meetings

3/8-9/01 International Seminar: Fire in Trains Incorporating Escape and Crash Survival, London, England (+44 [0] 1234 854756; Fax: 8412751; www.conferences.com).

4/30-5/1/01 National Planning Conference and Exhibition on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Terrorism Prepared-ness and Response, Salt Lake City, UT, National Defense Indus-trial Association and InterAgency Board for Equipment Stan-dardization and InterOperability (703, 247-2590; Fax: 52201885; kmigliore@ndia.org)

5/5-10/01 American Public Transportation Association Bus Operations and Technology Conference, Calgary, Alberta (202, 496-4800; www.meetings@apta.com)

5/14-17/01 2nd Annual Forensic Sciences and Crime Scene Technology Conference and Exposition, Washington, DC (888, 737-1224;www.frenzyexpo.com)

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

5/21-24/01 Street Smart from 9 to 5, Chicago, IL, Crisis Prevention Institute (847, 679-8900)

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

7/24-27/01 Street Smart from 9 to 5, Philadelphia, PA, Crisis Prevention Institute; 847, 679-8900)

9/11-14/01 Street Smart from 9 to 5, Boston, MA, Crisis Prevention Institute (847, 679-8900)

9/30-10-4/01 American Public Transportation Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (202, 496-4800; www.meetings@apta.com)

10/23-26/01 Street Smart from 9 to 5, Milwaukee, WI, Crisis Prevention Institute (847, 679-8900)

10/27-31/01 108th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Toronto, Ontario (800, THE IACP)

11/13-16/01 Street Smart from 9 to 5, Cleveland, OH, Cri-sis Prevention Institute (847, 679-8900)

12/11-14/01 Street Smart from 9 to 5, San Francisco, CA, Crisis Prevention Institute (847, 679-8900)

Training

3/5-9/01 Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation, Concord, CA, Federal Transit Administration and Transporta-tion Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

3/6/01 Threat Management and Emergency Response to Bus Hijackings Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 9543682; Fax: 954-0367)

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

3/22/01 Fatigue Awareness Seminar, Helena, MT (closed to outside participants), Federal Transit Administration and Trans-portation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

3/27-30/01 Effectively Managing Transit Emergencies, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Trans-portation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/4-5/01 Fatigue Awareness Seminar, Austin, TX, Federal Tran-sit 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 Transporta-tion Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

4/11/01 Transit Explosives Incident Management Seminar, Salt Lake City, UT, Federal Transit Administration and Transporta-tion 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)

4/23-27/01 Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation, Albany, NY, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

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

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

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

6/4-8/01 Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation, An-chorage, AK (closed to outside participants), Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (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)

7/9-13/01 Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation, St. Paul, MN, Federal Transit Administration and Transportation Safety Institute (405, 954-3682; Fax: 954-0367)

8/6-10/01 Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation, Norfolk, VA (closed to outside participants), 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 Transporta-tion 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)

8/27-31/01 Fundamentals of Bus Collision Investigation, Aus-tin, TX (closed to outside participants), Federal Transit Admini-stration 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)

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 August 15, 2000.