March 24-Two terrorist bombings inside Brussels’ airport terminal Tuesday is prompting talk of moving security checkpoints outside such buildings in the United States.
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The Department of Homeland Security is stressing that there is no specific, credible intelligence pointing to a similar plot in the United States.
With the Easter holiday around the corner there will be heavy travel traffic.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the agency’s Special Operations Division resources are “on standby and are prepared to respond anywhere in the region should the need arise”.
Brendan Koerner, a contributing editor at Wired and the author of “The Skies Belong to Us”, which details the hijackings of the 1960s and 1970s that led to increased security at USA airports, expects “a wholesale reconsideration of where the security curtain, so to speak, begins in airports”.
The New York Police Department is increasing visible presence of officers on the streets and in the subway system across the city’s five boroughs.
“I’m not sure how much more we can ramp up security without seriously infringing on the freedoms that are so integral to our lives”, says Koerner.
One security source, who declined to be named, said: “Everything will be looked at afresh”.
“Our hearts go out to the people of Brussels and to the first responders”, he said. “But as we know, those still get attacked”.
Metro officials asked the public to be aware of their surroundings at transportation centers and stressed the importance of calling attention to something or someone that may seem unusual.
“The thought, is there a way that we can prevent this type of tragedy from taking place, and really, the only way to do is to move the security checkpoint outside of the airport or down the road from the airport”, Ratliff said.
TSA is “working on moving toward high-speed baggage screening, but it’s not something TSA can do on their own”, James Norton, a homeland security consultant and former DHS official, said.
“You may see more of a presence here in the airport, but that’s not cause for alarm”, Kerlik says.
Amtrak spokeswoman Verna Graham said the rail line also has added safety personnel. Sometimes it’s local police hired out, paid for by the municipal or airport authority or whoever runs it. And that jurisdiction is not clear the way it should be.
That includes extra canine units as well as uniformed and plainclothes officers, he said.
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DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been in communication today with state and local law enforcement, as many local authorities have increased security and raised their public-facing profile.
