What's going on in NYC???

[foreverdem]

I had my bag searched AGAIN this morning by police when I arrived at the subway station. This is the second time it's happened to me, my bag was searched back in August. I have heard nothing about these searches being enacted again. I felt sort of violated.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Contact the ACLU

Sounds like a 4th amendment violation to me!

[MADem]

2. Terra, terra, terra! Remember that tape from #2?

The "Nya, nya, ya missed me!" tape?

There is an increase in "presence" at Logan airport as well...with white trucks always seeming to be stopped and searched along the road.

I get searched ALL THE TIME. It's gotten to the point where I plan for it.

[JHB]

3. It's supposedly ongoing...

It didn't stop from when they initiated it, though it did seem to lag off lately. But the announcements that bags were subject to search haven't let up.

[HereSince1628]

4. Don't worry it's about the SuperBowl.

They ran out of places in Michigan to put the security so they moved the excess to New York.

[Stephanie]

5. don't look the cops in the eye and they will let you walk right by

the cops act like they're embarrassed about the whole thing, it's so ridiculous anyway.

[Zensea]

8. Exactly

I have yet to be searched, although I have seen the searches now and then when I get on the subway. I've just walked on past, not breaking stride, with the appearance of being in my own world -- it's worked so far. If I do get stopped, I haven't decided yet what I would actually do under the circumstances although my principle would be to refuse (and say why) and then turn around to go look for another entrance
I find it amusing in a way, that this technique of not looking the cops in the eye to avoid getting searched is the same technique I use to avoid getting harassed by punks when I'm in a relatively dangerous part of the city or that I use to keep some of the crazies of the city from bothering me.

[foreverdem]

10. That's usually what I do

I just don't look at them and keep walking. It usually works, except for the last time at 34th St. I was surprised that they did this in my neighborhood station. It's not like it's a major hub or alot of people go through the station.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Last summer, Mayor Bloomberg instituted a new policy of random

bag searches in the subway system in all five boroughs. The ACLU challenged the policy but apparently lost the first round as the searches are random, i.e., you will be searched arbitrarily despite your lack of danger in order to prevent a demographic group from claiming racial/ethnic profiling, hence making the searches unconstitutional. Same standard as airline check-in searches.

[Beer Snob-50]

7. How about it is 10 months to mid-term elections

and it is never to early to ramp up the "we live in terror" bit.

[BoneDaddy]

9. A dissenting view

I certainly am against Bush's wire tapping, he Gestapo tactics and the general state of the union.

I certainly believe that the repubs have used fear and threat of another terrorist attack to manipulate the American people into reacting their way BUT...

That said, I do think we need some form of security in NYC, especially in lieu of the fact that NYC has been a target for terrorism multiple times and is much easier to access than other cities. If the police do this with respect, I don't think it is out of the realm of appropriate action.

However, I think they could and should spend much more time and energy securing the ports and some of the more dangerous, vulnerable areas in the area than random searches of bags in the subway.

[im10ashus]

11. I've not been searched yet.

And I see them all the time. :shrug: