Metro riders will soon be ready for anything.
Throughout September, Metro Transit Police will be distributing brochures and emergency preparedness kits to Metro commuters every Tuesday and Thursday as part of the second annual National Emergency Preparedness Month.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is doing its best to prepare riders for emergencies before they happen. Included in the brochures are a suggestion to “learn alternate routes and ways to get where you need to go” and instructions for taking shelter during a chemical attack.
Metro officials contributed to a special issue of the local Express newspaper this month that focuses on how to be prepared on the Metro. Their recommendations include using text messages instead of voice calls in an emergency and designating a central family contact outside the D.C. Metropolitan Area to keep phone networks from crashing. Express also explains how to recognize the sound of trains when evacuating tunnels and advises people to move quickly through tunnel areas.
Safety tips are also being broadcast over the public announcement systems on the trains for the duration of the month.
Since the 1996 Sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway, the Metro Transit Police has significantly increased security measures and the level of training employees receive, according to the Metro website. Unlike on the New York Subway there are no random searches on the Metro, but over 1,400 cameras monitor activity at the network of stations, in addition to the 381 sworn officers of the MTPD.
Security on the Metro remains heightened since the London attacks in July, said Paul Mayfield, manager of accident prevention and emergency management for Transit Authority. “We’re still using the dogs and the people undercover, but the preface is that you don’t know they’re there,” Mayfield said.
According to the Washington Post, Metro Transit Police policy authorizes lethal force “if the officer reasonably believes that his/her life or the lives of others is in danger.” Unlike Chief Terrance W. Gainer of the Capitol Police, MTPD Chief Polly Hanson has not ordered officers to “shoot to kill.”
Mayfield emphasized that the main defense against disasters on the transit system is the riders themselves, with initiatives such as the “Excuse me, is that your bag?” campaign, which encourages people to ask others about unattended packages and to report suspicious parcels and people to MTPD. Since the start of the campaign, transit police have received 441 calls about strange packages.
Commuter awareness is critical, and Mayfield thinks riders are ready to take on that responsibility.
“I don’t think people are as complacent as they used to be,” Mayfield said.
