2014 Digital Yearbook of Homeland Security Awards

GSN 2014 Digital Yearbook of Homeland Security Awards Recipients
GSN INTERVIEW
K. Denise Rucker Krepp, Distinguished Judge,GSN 2014 Homeland Security Awards Program
positional authority to overcome bureaucratic stumbling
blocks and they should use it to best address the needs of
their constituencies.
What keeps you up at night?
KDRK: Mass transit security in Washington, DC. Eight
years ago, the 9/11 Act mandated mass transit security
plans. These requirements were put in place after the
horrific London and Madrid bombings. I’m concerned that
the Washington, DC plan isn’t sufficient.
On January 12th, one individual died and seventy
more were sent to hospitals when smoke filled a WMATA
subway tunnel. It took almost 45 minutes for firefighters
to begin evacuating stranded passengers. During these
crucial minutes, riders had to depend on one another to
survive. If properly drafted and implemented, the 9/11 Act
mass transit security plan should have prevented this type
of delay.
I have personal knowledge about the vulnerabilities
that continue to exist for handicapped passengers.
Last spring, my nine year old daughter and I were forced
to evacuate a WMATA subway train. We were in the last car
and as such, we had to walk through all of the cars to get
out. One of the individuals in the car with us was in a motorized
wheel chair. The wheel chair could fit through the
regular door openings but it couldn’t fit through the doors
between the rail cars. This design flaw meant that someone
would have to carry the handicapped gentleman out
of the train. None of my fellow passengers did. Instead, he
was forced to stay behind while my daughter and I went in
search of a WMATA representative to help him. There was
no fire that day but what would have happened if there
had been one. Based on what happened on the January
12th, I’m not confident he would have survived.
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