The nationalization of airport security in the US in 2001 has become increasingly controversial amid the heavy-handed tactics of the TSA, but even as the agency is forever beating back such opposition, they are also eagerly expanding into other venues.

Since a “Transportation” Security Authority can cover other modes of transportation, they have done so, with heavily armed TSA agents showing up at train depots randomly as part of the “Visible Intermodal Prevention” (VIPR) squad that seemingly only exists to make travel less convenient.

But it doesn’t even need to be transport related these days, as VIPR squads show up virtually anywhere they feel like, nominally in the name of national security, hassling people trying to attend sporting events or concerts.

But does VIPR do anything positive? The TSA, which is eager to brag on the off chance it manages to foil something, insists that matter is classified, which is the long-winded, administration way of saying “no.”