Give Me Liberty or Give Me My Subway Ride

It's the summer of the bag check: Civil liberties groups are still trying to determine the legality of bag checks, but the NY Post reports that many people are happy to show the police what's in their bags. One person even, "All these people were opening bags before the cops even asked. It defeats the purpose of a random search. Would a terrorist do that?" No, but what's funny is that neither would most New Yorkers, as Gothamist feels opening one's bag unnecessarily also meets the purpose of someone swooping in and taking your wallet, iPod, or cellphone, but we suppose the police would be right there. Maybe the police can search the people who don't have the tired, "I just want to get to work and can't believe I'm already sweating through my work shirt" expressions on their faces! And our Mayor on the matter:

"It's a policy designed to strike a balance that protects our civil liberties, that isn't too intrusive, and that keeps anybody who might think of threatening us off balance and off guard. The times demand stepped up vigilance - and we're going to provide it in a fair and sensible way. It may take you a little longer to get where you're going, but we're going to make sure that you get there safely."

Other things to keep subway riders off balance and off guard: Signal problems, police investigations ahead, and track fires. Naturally, a website, No Subway Searches, has been created to make sure commuters know their rights - complete with downloadable bill of subway rider rights (at, least, given the MTA's rules of the ride). And Al Sharpton wants to meet with Police Commissioner Kelly about "random" checks - Gothamist would love for that meeting to be televised.

The NY Times has an editorial saying that the searches should be random and go on for longer than a few weeks, that "Finding a way to treat people fairly and still pursue any real threat is a particularly difficult and important task in a city as diverse as New York," and that the federal goverment should pay for the NYPD's overtime. And Slate looks at whether or not these searches are legal. Gothamist wonders what will happen when the NYPD starts demanding to check our shoes... there's a goldmine to be made in "Portable, disposable footmats."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on July 26, 2005 2:23 PM

Comments [rss]

brn

So you'd die for certain constitutional rights, as long as they're the one's you like? I wrote that you're self-absorbed, and you've responded with nothing to dissuade me.

That's the beauty of the constitutional basis of our judicial system: It's not up to you to cavalierly decide which rights everyone has to forfeit. You may not value the fourth amendment, but that doesn't mean it's any less a part of the constitution. Whether you personally agree with it or not, it's still the law, and people are still entitled to the protection it grants.

If you feel so strongly that privacy no longer matters, then petition your senator to repeal the fourth amendment. See how far that gets you. You'll find that the founders made it exceptionally hard to change the constitution, specifically because of attitudes like yours.

Mario

I don't have to value all of my constitutional rights equally. Nor do I have to value them as much as the people who died for them in the past. Each of us needs to decide for him/herself whether we value each of out constitutional rights and to what degree. That's why the founders allowed us to change the constitution, because peoples perception of values in rights are dynamic over time. It just so happens that I don't value the one regarding privacy, in this case. The IRS *is* free to audit me if they like, I doubt they'll find anything. As for all the other rights afforded me under the constitution, I believe in them strongly and would also die to protect them. You're just being a big baby over a search that's far less intrusive than even those you're subjected to when entering a night club.

brn

I have nothing to hide...

Mario, you're a self-absorbed moron. For two hundred years, Americans have been dying to protect and preserve the constitutional rights that you so casually discard, all because you don't carry that much in your bag.

And be sure to contact the IRS and request an audit for yourself, since you have nothing to hide. Douche.

Jimmy

A friend of a friend of mine started the Flex Your Rights Foundation. They just came out with a short guide: "The Citizen's Guide to Refusing New York Subway Searches"

http://www.flexyourrights.org/subway/

sp

average daily ridership is 5 million. You do the math.

spinachdip

Apu,

Another difference between the subway searches and the airport screening besides the the randomness is that at the airport, you know exactly what they're looking for.

There's a clearly posted list of prohibited items like knives, scissors, lighters, etc etc. And at the airport, for stuff like knives, and scissors, they let you check it in or send it to your destination with a $30 fee.

At the subway, who knows what they're searching for? Does an art student have to give up her Xacto knife? What about cell phones or PDAs that could be used to detonate a bomb?

I've also read reports that officers are checking IDs and taking down information? What for? Did you agree to this when you bought your Metrocard?

This is nothing but preemptive ass covering by the NYPD to make up for future failures so they can say "At least we were doing something." Worse than an inconvenience, this is a political dog and pony show that wastes taxpayer money and infringes on our right to move freely.

What dumbass honestly thinks we're safer because the cops are checking every passenger out of 20, or buys into Bloomberg's "If you don't want to be searched, you can turn away" fallacy?

Mario

This is rediculous on both sides of the argument. On one hand these searches are completely useless. A bomber could send his buddy in to check if their checking bags (I still haven't seen any searching posts) and if it is, just move on to the next station. Not to mention their ability to turn around and just leave if being asked to submit to a search. On the other hand, I really don't think this is any different from an airport screening. From a practical point of view it's exactly the same. You idiots can complain about the legal differences if you want but you know there's really no difference. I don't know about you guys, but all I keep in my bag is my company badge, my Blackberry, my cell phone, some papers for work and gum. The cops can look at it every day for the rest of my life for all I care (if it actually made me safer). Honestly, they can film me having sex through my bedroom window too, as long as they send me a copy. I have nothing to hide...

If they really want security, they should start some real racial profiling and search people in their homes and on the street. It makes obvious sense to me, the terrorists all fit the same profile.

Frank Gorshin

How come the searches are only at stations where the media shows up, I've gotten on numerous subway stations and haven't seen a cop on a train or on a platform or a turnstyle. And Why does the media always show the people who are like "If its for my safety, its ok" It's not for your safety, its for your fear. and Thank you to the person who continues to post the Ben Frankline Qoute. I'm sure if he was alive today, Karl Rove would of outed him. And where is that Karl Rove Treason story mainstream media?

jacob

Re: Subway searches:

I think they are going to go away after a while. Remember those pimply national guard troops they put around the bridges after 9/11? It is just the government doing things for the sake of apperances. Cops need the overtime money so they could fuel up their motorboats in Jersey on the weekends. Everyone should get off the subway, and ride a bike instead. Let's just hope some suicide bomber does not use a bicycle, that would be a real pain for all the riders...

Kevin Walsh

>>>I just read Clyde Haberman's column where he hopes that now people will leave their overstuffed backpacks at homes versus bringing them into rush hour trains, which I think is funny, if totally impossible.

Amen to that. What are people carrying in those things anyway? Travel light, I always have...

www.forgotten-ny.com

effort not effurt

How about putting some "effurt" into your research? Airports are PUBLIC.

dhex

airline security is no longer private. it's now run by the TSA.

which, if you're in the market for 50lbs of silverware (via ebay), is a good thing.

effurt

Not to mention that airlines are private (and can make any rules they want) where as the subway is a public transport system. Seems to me just another way for the MTA to hand out money (in discrimination lawsuits) and jack up fares for all.

kristin

Nola, where are you??

Brightliner

Apu,

How can you not see the differences between this and airport screening? Airport screening is effective because everybody gets searched and every piece of luggage is x-rayed. And if you refuse to be searched, Homeland Security will probably take you aside. Contrast that with subway searches where the odds are anywhere from 80% and up that a bomber will not be stopped and searched. And if he is confronted, no problem, he just has to leave the system. He who gets to walk away, lives to bomb another day.

S.D.

The legality or "random" searches should be questioned. Questioning the Gov't is what citizen do in a Free society.

Let's change the scenery a little: Suppose the Gov't tries this during a "Critical Mass" bike ride? Or at a Peaceful Protest against GW Bush in Central Park? After all, any one who objects could just leave, right?

As he Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says:

"It's a safety issue. People don't consider any measures that you take for safety to be an inconvenience. This is New York City."

This excuse covers a lot of ground and is open to a lot of abuse.

This isn't a conspiracy theory, the Bloomberg Administration is doing it now to "Time's Up" as payback for the organized Bike ride during the RNC. How odd that the Bloomberg administration never noticed "Critical Mass" prior to the Republican Convention.

Legal or Not, this "Random" searches is IMO, just another exercise in C.Y.A.

apu

they do random "closer looks" and bag searches all the time – whether or not you make the xray machine beep.

Jen

Well, the searches at an airport are for every person, so that cuts down on the accusations of racial profiling.

I just read Clyde Haberman's column where he hopes that now people will leave their overstuffed backpacks at homes versus bringing them into rush hour trains, which I think is funny, if totally impossible.

apu

i'm just as ready to hop on the liberal side of a fight as the next guy, but would someone please tell me how this differs from the security at an airport? or at a springsteen concert?

Ben

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Benjamin Franklin,

Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Subway searches are another step on a slippery slope.

23

Is it me, or is Gothamist obssessed with the subway?

Brightliner

That Slate article isn't very good. For one thing, it analogizes these searches with roadblocks but says they're quite different from airport searches because everybody has to go through those. Hello? Everybody gets stopped at a roadblock, too.

It also says the searches are only at the turnstiles, which news reports and people here at Gothamist have said is distinctly untrue. You can be targeted inside a subway car or even as you're leaving. Which is the worst stupidity there is. Oh, you want to search my bag? No way! I'll leave the subway system before I let you do that! (Mock outrage as I go up the stairs to my office.)

citizen

Security guru Bruce Schneier criticized the checks:

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/07/searching_bags.html

"Countermeasures that defend against particular targets, or assume particular tactics, or cause the terrorists to make insignificant modifications in their plans, or that surveil the entire population looking for the few terrorists, are largely not worth it."

In this matter, I would value his opinion over those of the NY Times editorial board.