Legislation slashing Amtrak security
Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world converged on Washington, D.C., last week to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. Amtrak’s Police Department (APD) was part of this contingent, with more than 450 sworn and civilian personnel responsible for covering more than 30 locations in 46 states to ensure passenger safety and infrastructure security.
Amtrak police officers learned that Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson plans to cut the police department by 20 percent over the next three years. Rather than focusing on this week’s ceremonies, Amtrak police continued making rounds to congressional offices to highlight the pitfalls of such a proposal, which would endanger employees and passengers alike.
Rep. John Katko (R-N.Y.) is on record stating, “The vulnerabilities attached to train travel are well-documented. And this is not a time to reduce the forces. It’s time to increase the forces.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has also expressed concern: “I think Amtrak has a pretty heavy burden to justify this kind of drastic cut.”
Under Amtrak’s proposal to cut the overall force by 20 percent, it will be forced to reproportion the number of officers it has not only on trains, but also in stations and the tracks themselves. The latter point is particularly relevant considering a recent al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s (AQAP) Inspire magazine cover story about train derailment maneuvers. The article included a recipe for a train derailment tool, and a map of passenger and freight rail lines belonging to Amtrak.
Amtrak ridership and revenues are at record levels. At the same time, threats to our homeland are increasing in both complexity and frequency.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/homeland-security/445361-after-national-police-week-clearer-heads-must-prevail
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