wheezl
07-22-05, 11:39 AM
The things gov't will do to make people *feel* safe while just wasting taxpayer money.
New York Times
July 22, 2005
New Yorkers Handle Subway Checks as Part of Their Day
By MARIA NEWMAN AND SHADI RAHIMI
Commuters arriving at the subway station near 42nd Street and 8th Avenue during the morning rush today were met with this greeting from a police sergeant bellowing into a white bullhorn:
"Attention passengers: All purses and bags in the subway system are subject to inspection. If you do not agree to inspection, you must exit the system."
This is the reality of life for commuters in New York City in the wake of the London subway attacks: Police here began random searches last night of backpacks and packages carried by commuters on the city's subways and on area rail lines, in the broadest such search that officials can recall. And New Yorkers for the most part seemed to take it in stride.
"Everybody understands," said Sgt. Betsy Guzman, who was monitoring the station entrance at 42d and 8th Avenue, along with eight other police officers. "It's a little time out of their day, and a few people rushing to catch their train have been upset, but most people are O.K. with it."
The searches were conducted all over the metropolitan area. .
"You lost the time, but it's good for your life," said Macario Tejada, 33, a restaurant worker from Ecuador who waited at a subway station at Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said this morning that most people seemed to be cooperating with the searches.
"So far it's been going well," he told CNN. "The public understands we live in changed times. This is a tool, not a panacea. I think it gives potential terrorists something to think about. I think this is a reasonable step to take."
At the 42d and 8th Avenue subway entrance, most people asked to have their bags searched by officers obliged without complaint, though a few were confused and asked why, while some others rolled their eyes or grumbled quietly as they rushed over to the small, white fold-out table to the left of the turnstiles, where two officers went through their bags.
The officers would unzip suitcases and lift up clothing and towels to pat beneath them with their gloved hands. With purses or backpacks, they would rifle briefly through papers and notebooks. For most people, the process took about 10 to 15 seconds.
Nancy James, a 34-year-old Bronx resident, had her large black suitcase and small purse searched. She said the searches were "a good idea" for safety reasons, though she is not really worried about another terrorist attack in New York.
But she said they did not appear random to her.
"I think they're only checking people with big bags," she said. "They should be checking everyone, no matter what size bag you have."
Ms. Guzman acknowledged that big bags are something of a red flag for the officers, and she said they were also looking for "anything that might alert us, like wires sticking out of bags."
The searches throughout the metropolitan have already netted one arrest, after police on Long Island noticed something suspicious about a van near a Suffolk County train station.
The Associated Press said Suffolk County police arrested Gilbert Hernandez, 34, during Thursday evening's rush hour at the Brentwood Long Island Rail Road station after they searched his van and discovered a machete, imitation handguns, an electronic stun gun and chukka sticks in the vehicle. The police told The A.P. that Mr. Hernandez had been convicted of possessing a pipe bomb in 1996.
Some commuters said after they heard about the searches, which were announced on Thursday, they changed their routine somewhat.
"I go to the gym every day, and I didn't bring my gym bag today," said Shaquille Qureshi, a 21-year-old intern at the investment services firm UBS who was waiting for the D train at the Fordham Road Station in central Bronx.
Today, he carried only an umbrella and a newspaper.
Mr. Qureshi, a Pakistani Muslim, said he worried that racial profiling would determine who would be stopped and searched.
"I don't really buy the randomness of the searches," he said. "I even tell my friends, 'Don't even fly with me.' When I go to the airport, I get delayed an hour; they take my license and check my bag. I don't mind it because it's procedure, but I have to get there an hour earlier than most people."
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg acknowledged that passengers might be inconvenienced.
"It's a complex world where, sadly, there are a lot of bad people," he said on Thursday. "We know that our freedoms are threatening to certain individuals, and there's no reason for us to let our guard down."
Today, he also said he was aware of legal challenges to the searches, and said city was prepared to defend itself against any lawsuit.
Donna Lieberman, executive director at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said riders have a legal right to enter the subways even if they refuse to have their bags searched.
"We are absolutely looking into litigation," she said about the searches.
In a telephone interview from New Orleans, where she was attending a meeting organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, she said her organization plans to post a notice on its Web site by tonight informing passengers of their rights. She also encouraged riders who encountered problems with the searches to send an email to her organization at nyclu215@aol.com.
In response to concerns about civil liberties violations, Mr. Kelly said this morning on CNN that there would be no racial profiling involved in the searches, and that the department was using a "numerical criteria" to determine which commuters to search.
For example, he said, they might stop every one in 10 commuters, or every one in five, "depending on how busy the subway is."
Mr. Kelly said his department would "reserve the right" to expand the searches to buses and ferries, and he made it clear that many subway riders will be affected.
"Ideally, it will be before you go through the turnstile," he said. "You have a right to turn around and leave, but we also reserve the right to do those types of searches if someone is already inside the system."
But in Queens this morning, no one walked away when they were asked to open their bags.
Carli Beardsley was nervous when she opened her large tote bag, revealing a bottle of water and a pair of scissors, which she uses for work. She explained that she uses the scissors each day in her job as an interior designer in Lower Manhattan.
Ms. Beardsley, 42, said she felt anxious about subway security even before the July 7 bombings in London.
"I can't go through the 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue station without thinking about King's Cross," she said, referring to the London subway station that was the scene of one of the bombings on July 7.
Some riders not only supported the searches, but criticized the police for not inspecting bags more assiduously.
Catherine Courrier, 50, a vice president for marketing at Estee Lauder, the cosmetics firm, was carrying a rolling knapsack with clothing and toiletries for a weekend trip to the Hamptons. She said the police officers who stopped her gave only a cursory glance into the outside pocket of the knapsack, and did not even ask her to open the main compartment.
"They didn't even look inside it," Ms. Courrier complained. "I think it's as good idea if they do it properly, with gloves, like in the airport, but this type of search is useless."
Tony Bourdier, 38, works as a wood finisher and carries a toolbox with him every day. "I guess it's got to be done," he said of the searches. "I just have to leave a little bit earlier from the house."
Sewell Chan contributed reporting for this article. .
New York Times
July 22, 2005
New Yorkers Handle Subway Checks as Part of Their Day
By MARIA NEWMAN AND SHADI RAHIMI
Commuters arriving at the subway station near 42nd Street and 8th Avenue during the morning rush today were met with this greeting from a police sergeant bellowing into a white bullhorn:
"Attention passengers: All purses and bags in the subway system are subject to inspection. If you do not agree to inspection, you must exit the system."
This is the reality of life for commuters in New York City in the wake of the London subway attacks: Police here began random searches last night of backpacks and packages carried by commuters on the city's subways and on area rail lines, in the broadest such search that officials can recall. And New Yorkers for the most part seemed to take it in stride.
"Everybody understands," said Sgt. Betsy Guzman, who was monitoring the station entrance at 42d and 8th Avenue, along with eight other police officers. "It's a little time out of their day, and a few people rushing to catch their train have been upset, but most people are O.K. with it."
The searches were conducted all over the metropolitan area. .
"You lost the time, but it's good for your life," said Macario Tejada, 33, a restaurant worker from Ecuador who waited at a subway station at Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway in Jackson Heights, Queens.
Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said this morning that most people seemed to be cooperating with the searches.
"So far it's been going well," he told CNN. "The public understands we live in changed times. This is a tool, not a panacea. I think it gives potential terrorists something to think about. I think this is a reasonable step to take."
At the 42d and 8th Avenue subway entrance, most people asked to have their bags searched by officers obliged without complaint, though a few were confused and asked why, while some others rolled their eyes or grumbled quietly as they rushed over to the small, white fold-out table to the left of the turnstiles, where two officers went through their bags.
The officers would unzip suitcases and lift up clothing and towels to pat beneath them with their gloved hands. With purses or backpacks, they would rifle briefly through papers and notebooks. For most people, the process took about 10 to 15 seconds.
Nancy James, a 34-year-old Bronx resident, had her large black suitcase and small purse searched. She said the searches were "a good idea" for safety reasons, though she is not really worried about another terrorist attack in New York.
But she said they did not appear random to her.
"I think they're only checking people with big bags," she said. "They should be checking everyone, no matter what size bag you have."
Ms. Guzman acknowledged that big bags are something of a red flag for the officers, and she said they were also looking for "anything that might alert us, like wires sticking out of bags."
The searches throughout the metropolitan have already netted one arrest, after police on Long Island noticed something suspicious about a van near a Suffolk County train station.
The Associated Press said Suffolk County police arrested Gilbert Hernandez, 34, during Thursday evening's rush hour at the Brentwood Long Island Rail Road station after they searched his van and discovered a machete, imitation handguns, an electronic stun gun and chukka sticks in the vehicle. The police told The A.P. that Mr. Hernandez had been convicted of possessing a pipe bomb in 1996.
Some commuters said after they heard about the searches, which were announced on Thursday, they changed their routine somewhat.
"I go to the gym every day, and I didn't bring my gym bag today," said Shaquille Qureshi, a 21-year-old intern at the investment services firm UBS who was waiting for the D train at the Fordham Road Station in central Bronx.
Today, he carried only an umbrella and a newspaper.
Mr. Qureshi, a Pakistani Muslim, said he worried that racial profiling would determine who would be stopped and searched.
"I don't really buy the randomness of the searches," he said. "I even tell my friends, 'Don't even fly with me.' When I go to the airport, I get delayed an hour; they take my license and check my bag. I don't mind it because it's procedure, but I have to get there an hour earlier than most people."
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg acknowledged that passengers might be inconvenienced.
"It's a complex world where, sadly, there are a lot of bad people," he said on Thursday. "We know that our freedoms are threatening to certain individuals, and there's no reason for us to let our guard down."
Today, he also said he was aware of legal challenges to the searches, and said city was prepared to defend itself against any lawsuit.
Donna Lieberman, executive director at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said riders have a legal right to enter the subways even if they refuse to have their bags searched.
"We are absolutely looking into litigation," she said about the searches.
In a telephone interview from New Orleans, where she was attending a meeting organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, she said her organization plans to post a notice on its Web site by tonight informing passengers of their rights. She also encouraged riders who encountered problems with the searches to send an email to her organization at nyclu215@aol.com.
In response to concerns about civil liberties violations, Mr. Kelly said this morning on CNN that there would be no racial profiling involved in the searches, and that the department was using a "numerical criteria" to determine which commuters to search.
For example, he said, they might stop every one in 10 commuters, or every one in five, "depending on how busy the subway is."
Mr. Kelly said his department would "reserve the right" to expand the searches to buses and ferries, and he made it clear that many subway riders will be affected.
"Ideally, it will be before you go through the turnstile," he said. "You have a right to turn around and leave, but we also reserve the right to do those types of searches if someone is already inside the system."
But in Queens this morning, no one walked away when they were asked to open their bags.
Carli Beardsley was nervous when she opened her large tote bag, revealing a bottle of water and a pair of scissors, which she uses for work. She explained that she uses the scissors each day in her job as an interior designer in Lower Manhattan.
Ms. Beardsley, 42, said she felt anxious about subway security even before the July 7 bombings in London.
"I can't go through the 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue station without thinking about King's Cross," she said, referring to the London subway station that was the scene of one of the bombings on July 7.
Some riders not only supported the searches, but criticized the police for not inspecting bags more assiduously.
Catherine Courrier, 50, a vice president for marketing at Estee Lauder, the cosmetics firm, was carrying a rolling knapsack with clothing and toiletries for a weekend trip to the Hamptons. She said the police officers who stopped her gave only a cursory glance into the outside pocket of the knapsack, and did not even ask her to open the main compartment.
"They didn't even look inside it," Ms. Courrier complained. "I think it's as good idea if they do it properly, with gloves, like in the airport, but this type of search is useless."
Tony Bourdier, 38, works as a wood finisher and carries a toolbox with him every day. "I guess it's got to be done," he said of the searches. "I just have to leave a little bit earlier from the house."
Sewell Chan contributed reporting for this article. .