Tuesday
Oct282008
"Show me your papers!"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 8:42AM
With the recent announcement by Washington DC's Metro Authority and Transport that the Transit Police have the authority to conduct random searches of passenger's bags, it begs the question: am I losing my rights here?
Who, exactly, gave them the authority? Is that even legal? According to whom, and why?
The threat levels are in a constant high state around Washington, DC, and in the coming days it is likely to be pushed even higher due to the upcoming election. The threat level is the reason given for the random searches. WMATA says they will be choosing a random number, such as thirteen, and they will check every thirteenth person that is carrying a bag large enough to carry explosives. They claim they will not pick people from the crowd that are acting suspiciously and target them. Really? How do I know that I was really the thirteenth person carrying a bag, and not that I was the one that was looking suspicious? Do I just believe you?
Certainly it's not that difficult to put into place a detection system that sniffs for explosives as Washingtonians and tourists alike wander through the Metro system. Bomb dogs could be brought out en force to slink throughout the plazas. But an arbitrary screening process, based on the counting ability of the Transit Police?
The idea is not only ridiculous (a person carrying something dangerous, or illegal, could simply meander back and forth until they can enter the system without being stopped) it's also making me wonder when the government is going to start stopping random people on the street and inspecting bags for no reason other than they can!
What country do I live in, again?
Who, exactly, gave them the authority? Is that even legal? According to whom, and why?
The threat levels are in a constant high state around Washington, DC, and in the coming days it is likely to be pushed even higher due to the upcoming election. The threat level is the reason given for the random searches. WMATA says they will be choosing a random number, such as thirteen, and they will check every thirteenth person that is carrying a bag large enough to carry explosives. They claim they will not pick people from the crowd that are acting suspiciously and target them. Really? How do I know that I was really the thirteenth person carrying a bag, and not that I was the one that was looking suspicious? Do I just believe you?
Certainly it's not that difficult to put into place a detection system that sniffs for explosives as Washingtonians and tourists alike wander through the Metro system. Bomb dogs could be brought out en force to slink throughout the plazas. But an arbitrary screening process, based on the counting ability of the Transit Police?
The idea is not only ridiculous (a person carrying something dangerous, or illegal, could simply meander back and forth until they can enter the system without being stopped) it's also making me wonder when the government is going to start stopping random people on the street and inspecting bags for no reason other than they can!
What country do I live in, again?
Reader Comments (1)
I spoke with a member of the WMATA police force a year or so ago who is somewhat high up and he told me that they were looking into sniffers for bomb detection. That technology is still being looked into but is relatively expensive to install, especially in every Metro station.
However, this stop-the-13th-person thing is crazy. This is becoming more of a police state all the time.
Metro is public transportation, a service they cannot restrict people from using without a court order, as far as I know. Dawn - you know this stuff better than I do. So if they cannot stop me from riding, how are they going to make me submit to an unwarranted search?
Seems like the expensive technology is the way to go if they want to maintain ridership and keep people from getting PO'd about this.