WSTA Transit Security Council Meeting hosted by Pierce Transit
Tuesday, September 12, 2006, 10:00am – 12:00pm
Pierce Transit, Building 5, Mt. Saint Helen’s Room

WSTA Transit Security Council Mission Statement
To review transit security information in an effort to advise Washington State Transit Agencies about training opportunities and the standardization of report procedures, codes of conduct, security plans, crime-reduction methods, and police/judicial cooperation.

Attendees:
Joan Cormany, Pierce Transit
Barb Savary, WSDOT
Dave Fairbanks, King County Metro
Rod Baker, Pierce Transit
Michelle Parvinen, WSTA
Ray Hawkins, Pierce Transit
Captain Dave Jutilla, Metro Transit Police
Carol Cummings, Metro Transit Police
Robert Isaman, WA State Emergency Management
Sheldon Breaux, Kitsap Transit

Absent:
Phil Early, Intercity Transit
Kenneth Cummins, Security Officer (Sound Transit)
Geoffrey Getchman, Seattle Police Department
Sgt. Phillip Nichols, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Dept.
Sgt. Dave Redding, Pierce County Sheriff’s Dept.
Sgt. Rodney Rochon, Snohomish County Sheriff’s Dept.
Kevin Bradley, Community Transit
Chuck Cox, King County Metro
Dave Hall, Lakewood Police
Mike Burris

Minutes Taken By:
Beverly McCarter

Call to Order
•    Rod B. opened by saying there has been many new additions and changes to the TSC so everyone went around and introduced themselves and gave their titles.
•    The minutes from last meeting were reviewed and corrections were made. In the future the minutes will be posted on the website: watransit.com

Elections & Future Meetings
•    Rod B. has been the acting Chair and was hoping to have a larger crowd so we could elect the Chair at this meeting. The turn-out is less than he expected and he feels everyone should be present to do the elections. He recommended we do an e-mail nomination for elections at the next meeting. Dave Jutilla volunteered for either the Chair or Vice Chair and Carol Cummings stated that she would be willing to be a co-chair or a fill-in to give stability if either Dave J. or Rod B. is not available. Rod will send out an e-mail detailing how we will do the e-mail nominations.
•    Rod nominated Beverly to remain Secretary. This was seconded and approved.
•    Rod proposed we meet every other month instead of quarterly. This was seconded and approved by the group.
•    The next meeting will be on 11/14 and King County Metro will host the meeting in their new King County Metro Transit Communication Center at 10 AM. Dave Fairbanks will provide directions. At the next meeting we will discuss grants. Robert I. will give an overview of the 2007 grant process and talk about what needs to be in the concept papers. We will discuss the proposed date for a Transit Security Fair and what types of functions and topics we would like at this Fair. We will also discuss, more in depth, what types of proposals we would like to make to legislation regarding changing the RCW.

Grants
Rod B. asked what kind of items can we expect from a grant process and what is the most benefit to us regionally. Rod B. suggests CCTV on the busses. Robert I. stated each agency has to submit their own request and identify their partners, even if we are trying to get support as a region. Rod B. stated if we could get assistance from a grant, each group’s portion of the match-cost would be significantly reduced. Carol C. noted the grants are coming down for items, but the grants are not offering support for on-going projects and staffing needs. Robert I. stated he thinks there are ways to support on-going projects; however, grant guidelines offer few options to support staffing needs. He will look into this and respond back to the group. They are currently focused on mass-transit entities that carry a certain number of transports (inside urban areas only at this time). Transit agencies within those jurisdictions can submit requests on a competitive basis. Rod B. asked who we would be competing against if we were submitting a request for regional support. Dave J. stated we would be competing nationally.

TSA
Under the TCL, what they are focusing on are target capabilities for doing certain things like detection, preparedness, etc, they are using this as a benchmark. Carol C. stated we started these meetings to hold TSA accountable because they were sending down directives without communicating with the chiefs. The TSA agreed to come up with a one-year business plan. That business plan is being sent out to a number of agencies to see if they are meeting the transit agencies needs; Carol C. will send Rod a copy of this report.

Reporting Information
Carol C. reported that Dave J. is working on compiling a list of all the information they collect and who reports on it. She expects this to be done in about a week and then they can decide what type of information they feel is truly important. She stated they would be willing to share this information with us and we could come up with a mutual list. Rod B. explained what process we already have in place. He stated this doesn’t capture employee complaints or Service Supervisor complaints and he would like to capture this information. Carol C. suggested we hire their crime analyst for an hour or two per month to do this report for us (just like our off duty officers) and this will make it easier for us to get all the information we need. Rod agreed this is a good idea and warrants further discussion.

WSTA Executive Board
Rod B. stated next Friday (9/22/06) he will be reporting to the WSTA Executive Board regarding what this group is about and what it is we have been doing.

NIMS Training
•    Rod B. asked what other agencies are doing to become 100% NIMS qualified. He stated our interpretation of the requirements is that our operators are the first responders to any situation and so they need the appropriate training. The others in attendance were in agreement with this definition and are working towards making sure the operators have the appropriate training. Rod B. will e-mail Carol C. a copy of this definition so she can start establishing this for their operators.
•    Rod B. will work with Michelle P. to establish the on-line NIMS process onto the WSTA website.

Homeland Security & Legislation Proposals
•    TSA has sent out a request that Transit Agencies identify the top homeland security issues and the problems they have been facing.
•    Rod B. stated the shortage of useable data and the inability to receive information is top on his list. Rod B. stated the NTD reporting is useless, as it is now, since, unless the crime is a felony, it isn’t even reported. When you try to convince executives regarding a need for funding, or get a grant, the data to support the need isn’t available unless you are gathering it yourself. He stated there is no regional standard so we cannot compare from one region to another. Rod B. stated NIBERS is already available, we should just plug NTD into NIBRS and then we would have a regional standard. He stated developing a regional standard would at least help the information be consistent and reliable.
•    We discussed homeland security requirements. Rod B. stated we need to keep in mind that we are different than an airport and we need modifications made to the current legislation. He suggested we discuss what we would change or add about unlawful bus conduct if we could. The other issue is classifying dangerous weapons; there are certain areas that you cannot carry a dangerous weapons – he thinks we could add transit to the existing legislation so a person cannot take weapons on the bus.
•    Carol C. stated King County Metro is really interested in our loitering statute as this is something they have really struggled with; if they could get this on the RCW they could affect the drug and prostitution activity in their areas. Rod B. suggested they look at the Hindering Transportation Statute as this may be what they are aiming for. We can also work toward getting this onto the RCW.
•    Carol C. stated there have also been situations where they have seen people taking pictures of critical infrastructure. Rod suggested they could help curb this by taking pictures of the people taking pictures, this typically makes them nervous and they leave. She stated she would prefer the authority to drive away those who are engaging in suspicious activities.
•    Sheldon B. would also like to look at procedures for suspicious packages. Carol C. suggested we review London’s initial screening process where they have various levels of “suspicious” packages. They have screened hundreds of thousands of packages successfully. She stated King County Metro is currently leaning toward having a bomb-dog go out and do the initial screening so they don’t have to shut the entire system down. Carol C. stated as this grows and gets more national attention there will be more copy-cat scenarios and we need to make sure our operators are well trained in how to effectively deal with bomb scenarios.
•    The next legislative meeting is in January. So we will discuss what changes we would like to propose to the RCW’s.

Managing Transit Emergencies Course
Carol C. stated the Managing Transit Emergencies course is going to be offered again (11/15 – 11/17). She stated she knows there were several people who weren’t able to attend last time so she will send out flyers to everyone and they can begin signing up again. Rod suggested that Carol give this information to Michelle P. so we can put this information on the web-site.

Follow Up
1.    Rod Baker will send out an e-mail detailing how we will do the e-mail nominations.
2.    Dave Fairbanks will provide directions to the new King County Metro Transit Communication Center.
3.    Carol Cummings will send Rod Baker a copy of the TSA’s one-year business plan.
4.    Rod Baker will e-mail Carol Cummins a copy of our definition stating that operators are “first responders” to incidents, thus needing appropriate “first responder” NIMS training, so that King County Metro can start bringing their operators up to this level.
5.    Rod B. will work with Michelle P. to establish the on-line NIMS process onto the WSTA website.
6.    Carol Cumming will give information regarding the Managing Transit Emergencies class to Michelle Parvinen so Michelle can post the information on the web-site.

Proposed Agenda Items for Next Meeting
1.    Results of 9/22/06 meeting between Rod Baker and WSTA Executive Board.
2.    Overview of the ‘07 Grant process, including items to be included in the concept papers.
3.    Establish a proposed date, functions, & topics for a Transit Security Fair.
4.    Establish what type of proposals to make to legislation regarding changes to the RCW.


This meeting ended at 11:30

If you would like more information about this committee, please contact one of the officers or Michelle Parvinen at WSTA 360.786.9734, 2629 12th Court SW, Olympia, WA 98502-1118, or email michelle@watransit.com