TSA rail, subway spot-checks raise privacy issues

01/29/12: CNN reports that at a time when TSA airport searches are unpopular among many air travelers, civil liberties groups say the joint participation of special TSA Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams (VIPRS) with local police in "warrantless" searches have been "flying under the radar" in violation of constitutional protections. Transit police say it helps them better guard against attacks like those that have hit Madrid, London and Moscow since 2004. VIPRS are tasked with performing random, unpredictable baggage and security checks at passenger train, subway and bus stations as well as trucking weigh stations across the nation.