During its second stop to the annual STN EXPO, next month the TSA’s First Observer program will train attendees on how to spot suspicious vehicles and people, a need the agency recently identified for another less visible crowd of transportation professionals.
CNN recently reported on the TSA’s move into another segment of the transportation community — parking lot attendants. This past May, the program was introduced at a an industry convention in Las Vegas, just a few days after a suspicious vehicle was found in Times Square with a makeshift bomb inside. TSA agents trained approximately 60 parking lot officials and other industry representatives on “how to spot suspicious vehicles carrying hazardous materials or other activity that may signal the planning phases of a terrorist attack.”
The program, which has its roots in the American Trucking Association’s Highway Watch/School Bus Watch programs, will once again make its way to the hallowed halls of Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort on July 28 to concluded the 17th STN EXPO. I suggest, whether you’ve taken the training or not, to sit through it again. Certification is available, and it’s free of charge for all STN EXPO registrants. School bus drivers are one of many groups of “front-line defenders” that can quickly spot irregularities around them.
