Tuesday, July 22, 2025, 11:47PM | 
MENU
Advertisement

TSA's VIPR program isn't expanding its mission

TSA's VIPR program isn't expanding its mission

An Aug. 16 editorial ("Festering TSA") claimed inaccurately that the Transportation Security Administration is expanding the reach of its Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response program. VIPR teams are not new and their mission is not expanding. VIPRs have been deployed across the nation since 2004 after they were authorized by the 9/11 Act following the 2004 Madrid train bombings, which killed 191 people and wounded 1,800 more.

Congress has subsequently appropriated funding for VIPR teams that work with, and at the request of, local law enforcement to enhance security during specific alert periods or major events like the presidential inauguration or the 2009 G-20 summit where TSA, including the Federal Air Marshal Service, supported the U.S. Secret Service throughout Pittsburgh.

In an environment of ever-evolving threats, deploying VIPR teams provides an effective and visible deterrent to anyone planning an attack against high-profile targets.

Advertisement

TSA's mission, supported by the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service, has always been to secure all modes of transportation. VIPR teams are an important part of our multilayered approach to keep the traveling public safe.

ROBERT BRAY
Director
Federal Air Marshal Service
Transportation Security Administration
Arlington, Va.


First Published: August 21, 2013, 4:00 a.m.

Advertisement
RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Hampton Inn, 3315 Hamlet St., Oakland, on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024.
1
news
Pitt will house hundreds in hotel, apartments after overbooked housing
The Pirates' Mitch Keller reacts after allowing a run against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 15, 2025, in Chicago.
2
sports
Pirates trade rumors: What the Post-Gazette is hearing as the MLB deadline nears
New Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf (4) watches a drill with teammates during Steelers Minicamp at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side on Tuesday, June 10, 2025.
3
sports
Ray Fittipaldo's Steelers chat transcript: 07.22.25
BNY Mellon and UPMC towering over the Downtown skyline Thursday Sept. 12, 2024.
4
business
BNY's move signals a changing Downtown — and leaves the future of one skyscraper uncertain
KDKA Plum Explosion 4 Aerial photo of  debris around of the smoldering wreckage of the the three houses that exploded near Rustic Ridge Drive and Brookside Drive in the Plum Borough Saturday Aug. 12, 2023.
5
news
Families of Plum house explosion victims file wrongful death lawsuits against companies
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story