SEPTA Cops volunteer for Inauguration duty

By: Tom MacDonald
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SEPTA is sending a contingent of officers to Washington DC to help patrol the District of Columbia's Mass Transit System. WHYY's Tom MacDonald has the details.

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SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams says 13 members of the SEPTA police force will spend four days in Washington DC to help secure the mass transit system during the Inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama.

Williams: "They are going to be working in concert with Metro police officers making sure the crowds going to the inauguration are protected and are safe, so they are going to be taking their experise down to Washington doing the same type of work as they do here, in the Washington area."

Williams says the detail was a volunteer job.

Williams: "Fifty-five officers actually volunteered only 13 could go down.  Once the chief of the SEPTA police department advised them of their opportunity they were all excited and almost everyone raised their hand."

The costs of the coverage will be picked up by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA).

More information:
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