VENTURA COUNTY — Gold Coast Transit District, Ventura County’s largest public transit provider announced their partnership with the public awareness campaign of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), “If You See Something, Say Something™.”
“If You See Something, Say Something™” posters and signs will now be visible on buses, transit centers and public spaces in the Gold Coast Transit District service area which include the cities of Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Ventura and unincorporated areas of Ventura County between the cities. The posters advise citizens in the GCTD’s service area to contact the Department of Homeland Security at 888-705-JRIC (5742) or call 9-1-1 if they see any suspicious activity in or around buses or bus stops. Citizens and Community Organizations may download a poster, by visiting www.GoldCoastTransit.org.
“This partnership enables us to play a leading role in helping to keep our communities, businesses and citizen’s safe by encouraging our passengers to remain vigilant and play an active role in reporting any suspicious activity.” said Steve Brown, General Manager
The “If You See Something, Say Something™” campaign—originally implemented by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign—is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.
The Department launched the “If You See Something, Say Something™” campaign in conjunction with the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative—an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism and terrorism-related crime; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and ensure the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces for further investigation and fusion centers for analysis.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.dhs.gov/See-Something-Say-Something.