http://www.projo.com/news/content/Ne...1.19415c7.html

PROVIDENCE

Agents evacuate Kennedy Plaza on report of ‘suspicious’ package

Kennedy Plaza was cleared at the height of rush hour Wednesday afternoon because a suspicious package was reported while federal agents were conducting a random visibility exercise.

Joe Salter, Rhode Island’s federal security director for the Department of Homeland Security, said the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) routinely sends agents to transportation centers such as the RIPTA hub at Kennedy Plaza, or the airport, train station, Peter Pan bus terminal and the debarkation point for cruise ships in Newport, in uniforms clearly marking them as federal agents.

FBI agents and Civilian Support Team members in jackets marked CST, stood at the federal end of the plaza, facing City Hall, between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Buses came and went.

While the federal agents were being intentionally visible, Salter said, a Providence police officer reported a suspicious package. The Providence police bomb squad was called, and FBI agents asked commuters to move back toward City Hall. Providence officers arrived and directed everyone into Burnside Park. They cordoned off the bus hub. Buses were directed to Exchange Terrace, where passengers were able to board.

Fire Department ladder trucks waited at the Bank of America building. The police diverted traffic from the plaza.

Bomb squad members Lincoln Sisson and Scott Keenan arrived, inspected the package and determined it was not a threat, Providence police Sgt. Robert Boehn said. He said the incident was not a drill.

Salter said that during the TSA’s routine operation, a police officer “observed a package he deemed suspicious ... There was an orderly evacuation ... The item was deemed to be non-threatening.”

Visibility exercises are intended to prevent terrorism, Salter said. Sometimes the TSA deploys undercover behavior detection officers, he said.

a sampler box of Krispy Kremes?

I like the part about being where cruise ships DISEMBARK. We already knew about local and intercity buses and trains, but passengers leaving a ship? Does the TSA just stand around or will there be another Savannah type situation?

I wonder if this was a premeditated part of their "visibility" exercise.

See how visible we are? We cause such a scene and commotion. Respect our authority!

So, is this the first non-airport terminal dump then?

They'd just love that to be actually true.

The take i get from the article is that Providence PD and FD do all the work ^ while the TSA just stands around being "intentionally visible"

Hey, that would be enough to keep me away.

Mike

Well, they could be useful. They could help absorb the blast if there was an explosion.

So that explains why TSA hires clerks with (what's the PC term?) exceptional girth. Higher visibility.

OTOH, the odds are better to win the 10 state powerball than the odds that a Real™ Terrorist would place a bomb at random, and have it JUST HAPPEN to be during a half hour window during which the VIPER team is doing their once a year random visibility event in that known hotbed of terrorism Providence, Rhode Island.

Talk about a scary excuse for mission creep. If you accept that these events PREVENT terrorism, then extrapolate it out: Give the agents enough budget to put such teams everywhere in America 24/7, thus they can Prevent ALL terrorism.

Extra Credit Quiz: If it takes a dozen or so visible agents plus secret undercover BDOs to "prevent terrorism" for a half hour in one plaza in Providence, how large does the DHS budget need to be to Keep America Safe?

BWHA HA HA HA HA !!! I love the way you think!! ^^^^

TSA conducts operation at West Palm Beach Tri-Rail station

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_...i-rail-station

Excuse me while I lose my lunch....