On the Safe Side

Just to be on the safe side, school bus drivers are being trained to be alert for unusual activity that could lead to a terror attack. It doesn't sound very likely, but a pre-trip safety inspection is a good idea anyway. AP:

Down in Norfolk, Shelita Hill, a driver for 23 years, acknowledged that she never thought of her school bus as a target of terrorism until she heard Beatty speak. Neither had many others in the class.

"He woke us up," Hill said.

Schools are the kind of target that terrorists want, Beatty said: a place where an attack could have huge symbolic impact and lead to mass casualties and spectacular images.

To underscore the point, he reminded drivers of Beslan, Russia, where terrorists stormed a school in 2004, killing 331 adults and children in a storm of gunfire and explosions.

In Virginia, bus drivers were taught how to identify and evaluate unusual activity. What drew your attention to this person in the first place? Is someone unfamiliar taking photos or drawing sketches of the area? Is the person asking a lot of questions about the bus route?

Then the drivers got tips on how to report what they saw: Jot down facts immediately. Back away from the situation to get a broader view. Are there accomplices?

Next came the security sweep. Drivers were shown how to inspect their buses, not just for routine maintenance flaws, but also for tampering by terrorists. A bus has lots of hiding places for a bomb - the glove box, luggage bins, the engine compartment, the first-aid kit.

Victor Manuele, a longtime school bus driver in New York and now in Norfolk, said he has been doing pre-trip safety inspections for years. Just not for explosives.

"I don't think I ever thought about, 'Oh, well, here, let me check my bus for a bomb,'" Manuele said after the training. "So, you know, all of that stuff is very helpful."

Kenneth Trump, a school safety consultant who tracks security trends, said being prepared is not being alarmist. "Denying and downplaying schools and school buses as potential terror targets here in the U.S.," Trump said, "would be foolish."

When drivers finish their training, they get confidential School Bus Watch ID numbers. They are reminded never to profile people as suspicious based on culture or ethnicity.

"They know what looks right and what looks wrong," Beatty said. "All we can do is ask them to use their judgment."