Transportation Security

Accomplishments for Core Goal #12 Transportation Security

Transportation Security
Under Governor O’Malley, the State has focused its transportation security efforts on conducting comprehensive vulnerability assessments and hardening key transportation assets such as airports, ports, bridges and tunnels with physical countermeasures including CCTV and access control systems, and integrating various security enhancements to create redundant and multilayered protection.  Successfully securing Maryland’s transportation assets requires coordination between many agencies, across jurisdictional boundaries, and with private sector partners. Following are key projects and accomplishments:

  • Installed comprehensive security CCTV cameras with advanced video analytic capabilities at more than 25 MTA transit stations and facilities. Since 2007, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) has installed CCTV cameras at its Metro Subway, Light Rail, and MARC transit stations to provide the agency’s police department with situational awareness at these critical public spaces. Planning is underway that will allow the MTA to continue installing CCTV cameras in dozens more transit stations. Cameras monitoring transit stations are equipped with advanced analytical capabilities that issue automatic alerts if a package is left unattended on a station platform or other suspicious activities are detected.

  • Built a state-of-the-art Police Monitoring Facility to monitor transit-based CCTV video feeds 24/7. More than 1,200 CCTV cameras covering MTA transit stations and other facilities are networked at the MTA’s Police Monitoring Facility (PMF), which was completed in May 2011 and is staffed 24/7. Cameras monitoring transit stations are equipped with advanced analytical capabilities that issue automatic alerts if a package is left unattended on a station platform or other suspicious activities are detected.

  • Partnering with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security a regional transit ridership awareness campaign to increase transit security on buses and trains. The MTA is partnering with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to lead a transit-based “If You See Something, Say Something” awareness campaign on behalf of eight other transit systems in the Baltimore and National Capital Region. MTA has been awarded approximately $12 million in federal grant funds to create printed materials and radio and television advertisements that inform transit riders where to report suspicious or dangerous activities. The MTA will sustain the public awareness campaign throughout the region at least until 2014.

  • Developing a comprehensive radar-based surveillance system of the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland’s Natural Resource Police (NRP) has nearly completed a situational awareness system across the Chesapeake Bay that is able to detect and nearly all commercial and recreational vessel traffic. This system is based on 12 strategically placed radar towers and 8 long-range CCTV cameras that detect vessel movements within the Bay and nearby tributaries and transmit data back to NRP’s Communication Center at Sandy Point State Park, where radar and camera units are monitored 24/7, as well as with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. The information captured by this system allows Maryland’s law enforcement partners to locate recreational boaters in distress or commercial vessels carrying counterfeit goods or illegal materials.

  • Received a near-perfect score for the fourth year in a row since 2008 on the U.S. Coast Guard’s assessment of security at the Port of Baltimore’s MPA terminals. The U.S. Coast Guard performs an annual security assessment on each port of call in the country and inspects all physical security assets (fence lines, access control points, lighting, etc.) that protect port facilities. Again in 2012, the U.S. Coast Guard awarded the MPA an “Excellent” assessment for security. Since 2007, the MPA has repaired port fencing and physical barriers to meet current industrial standards, instituted web-controlled cyber locks on all MPA terminal gates, dispatched officers to perform regular fence-line inspections, and tightened access to terminals through more rigorous checks on credentials of port employees and visitors. These and multiple additional security improvements have resulted in an improved performance on the U.S. Coast Guard’s assessment.

  • Installed security CCTV cameras at all State-owned terminals at the Port of Baltimore and completed construction of a new CCTV monitoring center at Dundalk Marine Terminal. In 2012 the Maryland Port Administration completed construction of a CCTV monitoring center that integrates live video feeds covering the entrances and perimeters of all six MPA terminals at the Port of Baltimore plus the World Trade Center in the Inner Harbor. Port security will be able to monitor these camera feeds 24/7 at the new facility and dispatch Maryland Transportation Authority Police patrols to respond to incidents or unauthorized entrances onto MPA terminals.

  • Completed the Maryland Maritime Strategic Security Plan (MMSSP) to coordinate protective efforts of Maryland’s maritime environments. This plan is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between federal, State, local maritime law enforcement agencies and private sector partners. In August 2010, the State, Coast Guard, and Charles County produced the MMSSP to coordinate and improve responses to natural and man-made disasters and terrorist attacks. Partners are continuing to build out and implement shared security goals. The model for the plan may be applied to other environments with similar over- and under-lapping jurisdictional issues (e.g. rail, highways, etc.).

  • Since 2007, the Maritime Tactical Operations Group (MTOG) has secured at least $2.6 million in federal Port Security grants to purchase five response/patrol vessels, nighttime infrared detection, gamma ray page radiation detection and additional maritime tactical equipment for state and local patrol agencies. The MTOG was created in 2005 to coordinate state and local first responders in maritime incidents, develop common training protocols, and standardize equipment across departments. Seventeen agencies currently participate, including MSP, MDTA, NRP, and marine units from a number of local and federal entities. MTOG members completed their fifth Basic Maritime Operations Course in 2010 and to date have trained 125 officers in standardized training, which helps create a more prepared and efficient patrol force to prevent and respond to security incidents.

  • Building a comprehensive set of electronic security measures at Maryland’s five toll bridges. Maryland’s Transportation Authority (MDTA) is currently implementing a $11.5 million capital improvement projects to install a set of electronic security measures -- including CCTV cameras, radar units, electronic access control locks, stopped-vehicle detection, and emergency lighting -- at the State’s high-volume, toll highway bridges: the Key, Hatem, Tydings, Nice, and Bay Bridges. These tools will be able to alert security personnel in real-time to threats made against these critical transportation assets before they occur. Many of these security measures have already been installed at the Fort McHenry Tunnel, including CCTV and stopped-vehicle detection.

  • Integrating CCTV, access control, fire alarms, and other security and life-safety systems at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport’s into into a single Consolidated Dispatch Center (CDC). BWI Marshall has its own in-airport Fire and EMS services which require dispatch services similar to regular community-based departments. With support from the TSA, the Maryland Aviation Administration is implementing an emergency response platform where airport security personnel will be able to monitor the airport’s CCTV and fire alarm systems -- which are currently being upgraded -- and dispatch police or fire for incident response. Once completed, BWI’s fire and EMS services will be connected to the statewide CAD/RMS system. This modernized dispatch center for fire, EMS, and law enforcement will improve response capabilities for the BWI community. The project is expected to be completed by May 2013.

Back to Transportation Security
Updated December 2012