Transportation Security Administration officials made an appearance at Savannah's Amtrak train station last week, and caused quite an online stir after they began patting down people who had already disembarked the train.
The key to that stirring is the video seen up top.
The TSA addressed the Savannah issue in their blog: "many are wondering why we were screening
passengers who had just disembarked from a train," and went on to justify the screenings because they were "done in conjunction with a VIPR operation. During VIPR operations, any person entering the impacted area has to be screened."
Their post went on to say that "VIPR" operation teams consist of staff members taken from such units as the Federal Air Marshals, the Surface Transportation Security Inspectors, and the Explosive Detection Canine teams among others, and that these searches are intended to be high profile because de-boarding passangers "did not need to enter the station to claim luggage or get to their car."
TSA oficials did admit fault on this occasion though, explaining that while passangers were made aware of the possibility of such checks, the "VIPR" operation that day should have concluded already.
To read the TSA's blog post on the Savannah situation, follow the link.
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