Green Energy
(psst. . . that's the one against unreasonable search and seizure)
How long untl they decide it's ok to just stop you on the street or in your car because they want a look in your purse or trunk?
WTOP:
Metro randomly inspects bags
December 21, 2010 - 9:39am
WASHINGTON - Metro Police started randomly inspecting bags at the Braddock Road and College Park Metro stations Tuesday.
The searches, which are designed to be non-intrusive, came in the wake of recent terror plots and the same morning that an explosive device was found under a subway car seat in Rome.
The searches started at 7:30 a.m. and lasted about an hour at the Braddock Metro station.
During the searches, police randomly selected bags or packages and checked for hazardous materials using special technology. Screeners swabbed some bags and inspected them in a process that look less than a minute each.
Some common items, such as household chemicals, can prompt a positive test. Residue from a firing range also can trigger a
One Metro transit officer tells WTOP's Adam Tuss that "homemade bombs often come from household chemicals."
At Braddock Metro, one man was stopped for about 8 minutes because there was some sort of chemical substance on his bag. Police X-rayed the bag and went through it, finding nothing. They also took his his identification and questioned him.
Another woman, who did not object to the bag screening, was stopped for 45 seconds. She missed her train as her bag of Christmas presents was searched.
Metro Transit Police Deputy Chief Ron Pavlik said they inspected 25 bags in an hour at College Park and that the program would continue at multiple locations throughout the day.
"The whole idea is randomness," he said.
Dennis White, 59, who lives in College Park, said he was happy to find the inspections on his commute to work in Washington.
"In order to have a safe system, you have to make sure people don't get on it with explosives," said White, after having his bag inspected. "I really think we need to be realistic in these times."
Carol Cole, 58, of Greenbelt, said she wasn't bothered by the inspection. "I don't mind so much because you never know what is sitting next to you - the shoebomber or something?"
Groups upset about the bag searches started an online petition against it. They question the constitutionality of the searches.
Similar searches on New York's subways were challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2005, but an appeals court determined they were constitutional.
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Green Energy
Pissing on the Fourth Amendment
(psst. . . that's the one against unreasonable search and seizure)
How long untl they decide it's ok to just stop you on the street or in your car because they want a look in your purse or trunk?
WTOP:
Metro randomly inspects bags
December 21, 2010 - 9:39am
WASHINGTON - Metro Police started randomly inspecting bags at the Braddock Road and College Park Metro stations Tuesday.
The searches, which are designed to be non-intrusive, came in the wake of recent terror plots and the same morning that an explosive device was found under a subway car seat in Rome.
The searches started at 7:30 a.m. and lasted about an hour at the Braddock Metro station.
During the searches, police randomly selected bags or packages and checked for hazardous materials using special technology. Screeners swabbed some bags and inspected them in a process that look less than a minute each.
Some common items, such as household chemicals, can prompt a positive test. Residue from a firing range also can trigger a
One Metro transit officer tells WTOP's Adam Tuss that "homemade bombs often come from household chemicals."
At Braddock Metro, one man was stopped for about 8 minutes because there was some sort of chemical substance on his bag. Police X-rayed the bag and went through it, finding nothing. They also took his his identification and questioned him.
Another woman, who did not object to the bag screening, was stopped for 45 seconds. She missed her train as her bag of Christmas presents was searched.
Metro Transit Police Deputy Chief Ron Pavlik said they inspected 25 bags in an hour at College Park and that the program would continue at multiple locations throughout the day.
"The whole idea is randomness," he said.
Dennis White, 59, who lives in College Park, said he was happy to find the inspections on his commute to work in Washington.
"In order to have a safe system, you have to make sure people don't get on it with explosives," said White, after having his bag inspected. "I really think we need to be realistic in these times."
Carol Cole, 58, of Greenbelt, said she wasn't bothered by the inspection. "I don't mind so much because you never know what is sitting next to you - the shoebomber or something?"
Groups upset about the bag searches started an online petition against it. They question the constitutionality of the searches.
Similar searches on New York's subways were challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2005, but an appeals court determined they were constitutional.
- Jewish Politician Found Beaten And Stabbed To Death In Paris Suburb
From The Local: A Jewish politician who was found dead in his home in the suburbs of Paris on Tuesday was stabbed and beaten, his relatives have reportedly said. Alain Ghozland, a city councilor in Créteil, a suburb of Paris, was found dead at...
- Washington Dc Subway System Under Attack? Smoke Fills Subway,passengers Evacuated Three Times In Two Days
Don't worry, though. It's just a random mechanical failure. It has nothing to do with Islam. From Yahoo: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A mechanical failure on a Washington subway train caused smoke to fill a station stop on Sunday in the nation's...
- More Insanity
A follow up to something that Epa posted about not long ago: Metro rips out Phantom Planter’s flowers at Dupont Circle station It turns out I underestimated Metro bureaucrats’ capacity for folly. Two weeks ago, I wrote that the transit system would...
- Kneeling, Praying Non-citizen Makes Bomb Threat On Dc Metro Red Line Train - Causing Panic; Hijab Quotient 100%
From the Washington Post: 2:33 p.m. Update: The 51-year-old Mclean woman has been “involuntarily committed” at a facility that “has better resources to handle mental issues,” Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said. — Dana Hedgpeth 1:50 p.m. Update:...
- Bomb Sniffing Dogs On Vancouver Transit Worry Muslim Leader
From Vlad Tepes Blog: Passengers stepping off the SkyTrain could soon be greeted by explosive-sniffing dog patrols. (Mike Laanela/CBC)Specially trained bomb-sniffing dogs might soon be patrolling Metro Vancouver’s buses and SkyTrains just in time for...