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Page 36
Suggested Citation:"3 Countermeasures Catalog." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25114.
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Page 36
Page 37
Suggested Citation:"3 Countermeasures Catalog." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25114.
×
Page 37
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"3 Countermeasures Catalog." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25114.
×
Page 38

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Operator Assault Risk Management Toolbox 37 done about addressing those dangers. If, as the pilot agency has done, an agency has adopted as policy that it will deploy systemwide whatever countermeasures it adopts, then to selectively adopt more effective countermeasures along “more dangerous” routes suggests that the drivers on the other routes aren’t “as important,” or perhaps suggests to potential assailants that the other routes are better targets. The power of social media cannot be ignored in this matter. At the same time, as discussed previously, implementing certain countermeasures system- wide may be neither cost-effective nor fiscally or physically possible. For example, introducing barring or barrier systems necessarily will take time and resources that will be beyond an imme- diate implementation schedule. Thus, the route-based risk calculator presented and illustrated here are designed primarily for agency personnel use. Providing elected officials and the press the results of the analyses may expose the agency to unwanted and unnecessary controversy and/or potential litigation exposure. How an agency chooses to address such matters is a direct agency policy matter that must necessarily take into consideration external factors. In short, this becomes an enterprise risk management exercise that takes into account the various other risk exposures facing the agency. On the other hand, it may well be that publicly advertising the adoption of certain counter- measures systemwide can act as a deterrent to potential assailants and encourage potential patrons that the agency is cognizant and acting upon potential risks in a proactive manner. For example, widely distributing passenger codes of conduct along with notification that undercover security personnel will be randomly riding all buses may lead to a diminution of assaults and other anti-social behavior on the vehicles and around terminals and transfer points. Or, where particular routes traverse through higher risk areas, community-based outreach effort may be effective in reducing driver risks going forward. Further, as the pilot agency has done, significant coordination with community policing efforts may yield further reductions in the risks faced by drivers, and patrons for that matter. However, it should be recognized that such external agency policy engagements take time to effectuate and time to gain communitywide understanding and behavioral change. Finally, risk will always be present. Even with the best countermeasure implementation there will be incidents that occur. Thus, beyond strict countermeasure implementation, agency response plans and support mechanisms need to be in place and frequently engaged in practice/ simulation exercises to ensure that an agency and community are prepared and will respond appropriately and in a timely manner when an incident occurs—such publicly known prepara- tions may also provide inhibitory barriers to would-be assailants and other unwanted activities along transit routes. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

38 There are many measures and approaches which address assault against transit drivers and operators, ranging from policing, personnel, and training to technology, information management, policy, and legislation. TCRP Synthesis 93 summarized survey and literature review results of bus operator protection measures and found that some mea- sures were more appropriate for preventing certain types of attacks. For example, conflict mitigation training was appropriate for reducing assaults from disputes but barriers were useful in protecting the operator against spontaneous attacks. Emergency communications and vehicle location technologies improved incident response. Video surveillance was found to be effective for deterrence and post-assault identification and prosecution of assailants whereas audio surveillance was found specifically useful in addressing verbal attacks and threats. The use of school outreach programs can mitigate assaults by teens. Agencies have helped in passing legislation on enhanced penalties for operator assault and have established agency policies such as sus- pending service for violating transit agency rules. Other practices identified in TCRP Synthesis 93 included: • Crime statistics maps are valuable visual tools for transit police and are useful for the strategic deployment of officers. Providing passengers with access to up-to-date crime data through interactive, user-friendly crime statistics maps increases their perception of control over their transit trip. • Plainclothes officers within the transit system are useful to catch perpetrators in the act of committing a crime. The use of unmarked vehicles is an effective practice in transit park- and-ride or other parking facilities. • Training drivers in customer relations, conflict mitigation, and gang-related violence provides them with increased confidence and knowledge in dealing with the public. • Enforcing passenger codes of conduct can assist agencies in detecting and deterring crime and in enhancing the perception of security within their transit systems. While operator assault countermeasures vary widely in scope, ease of implementation, cost, and other factors, the countermeasures are presented in a format that allows for swift comparison of the strengths and requirements of each measure. In building a comprehensive strategy toward operator assaults, transit agencies must first take into account the purpose and benefits of the various types of countermeasures and categories that are available, as well as the unique causes and contributors to operator assault experienced by the transit system in question. Though certain countermeasures are specific to particular C H A P T E R 3 Countermeasures Catalog This section covers countermeasures that can be considered by transit agencies as a means to prevent, deter, detect, mitigate, respond to or recover from an attempt or actual assault upon a transit operator. A broad selection of countermeasures are included based on potential or demonstrated effective- ness in reducing instances of assault or mitigating assault impacts derived from industry statistics, research publications, and localized case studies. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Countermeasures Catalog 39 agency assets, others can be swiftly and flexibly deployed in an agencywide setting. The set of countermeasures provided in this section will enable transit providers to craft a comprehensive assault mitigation strategy that is affordable and appropriate to the scale of each unique transit system. A broad selection of countermeasures in several distinct categories is included here on the basis of potential or demonstrated qualitative and quantitative effectiveness in reducing instances of assault or mitigating assault impacts. The countermeasures are grouped into seven categories as follows: Category 1: Policies, Plans, and Protocols. These are written documents and working protocols that specifically describe the agency’s security approach for preventing, reducing or mitigating operator assaults. Category 2: Police or Security Staffing. Adding personnel for any purpose is often the most costly operating expenditure that the agency will face. It is therefore prudent for transit agencies to be thorough and diligent in determining security personnel requirements. Determining the necessity for security personnel or the extent to which forces should be deployed on board transit vehicles can be loosely estimated based primarily on issues such as size, population served, and operating locale. Statistics support a view that transit systems operating in high density population areas are likely at higher risk of crime or disorder than more rural systems. Category 3: Voice Communications Technology. Communication is the transfer of information and some means of ensuring that what is sent is also received. New technology increases the ways in which information can be communicated. Typically radios have been deployed to enable two way communications about operating conditions. Advanced communications cover digital, video, and voice, computer graphics, and systems and applications. Newer systems require some infrastructure and cover network-based, web-based and wireless-based control and monitoring functions. Category 4: Data Communications and Telemetry Systems. More advanced technologies now exist that can be used to enable better communications between drivers and their station. These technologies include mobile data terminals, automatic vehicle locators (AVLs), GPS units, and emergency alert buttons. Category 5: Surveillance and Observation Systems. Surveillance systems are generally designed to attain complete or nearly complete coverage of identified space in a defined area using closed-circuit television or CCTVs. Digital video surveillance is an appliance that enables embedded image-capture capabilities that allow video images or extracted information to be compressed, stored, or transmitted over communication networks or digital data link. Category 6: Driver Protection Systems. Driver protection systems are physical (engineering) controls that are aimed at making it difficult or impossible for an attacker to inflict harm on an operator and are incorporated into the design of the bus itself or added later as an upgrade. Category 7: Training. Training, for purposes of this research, is an organized activity aimed at imparting information and/or instructions to improve the recipient’s performance or to help him or her attain a required level of knowledge or skill. Training can help operators to handle situations when they arise. Operator assault countermeasures vary widely in scope, ease of implementation, cost, and other factors. Table 18 is the rating scale developed for the countermeasures with the description or definition of each of the six rating categories: ease of use, industry use, time to implement, labor intensive, cost to implement, and overall effectiveness. Applying the rating scale to the identified operator assault related countermeasures provides transit agencies with a working summary of the available options that can be utilized to reduce risks and improve safety. The countermeasures catalog, found in Appendix D, presents the countermeasures in a format that allows for a swift comparison of the strengths and requirements of each measure. Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Research Report 193: Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 2: User Guide provides potential countermeasures and strategies to prevent or mitigate assaults against transit operators. The User Guide includes an operator assault risk management toolbox developed to support transit agencies in their efforts to prevent, mitigate, and respond to assaults against operators. The User Guide also provides transit agencies with guidance in the use and deployment of the vulnerability self-assessment tool and the route-based risk calculator and includes supportive checklists, guidelines, and methodologies.

Transit industry policies, practices, and operating procedures related to preventing, mitigating, and responding to operator assaults are not uniform. The policies and procedures set by the transit agency and situational and design factors can shape mitigation approaches. The format, scale, and implementation of these measures vary greatly among transit agencies. Many agencies have written policies that address workplace violence prevention, but they vary widely in content, scope, and application. Relevant skills and training required by transit operators to address this issue vary as well.

TCRP Research Report 193: Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Volume 1: Research Overview documents the materials and methodology used to develop Volume 2: User Guide.

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