In the eight days since it started randomly checking the NYPD has gone through thousands of bags in subway, bus and commuter train stations across the city. And the results have been negligible, which is a good thing according to the NYPD. The Times reports that in it's first week of operation the bag searches have led to one arrest for possession of illegal fireworks, no legal challenges and minimal resistance (those T-shirts don't count).
But despite all of the initial hoopla, some people are growing skeptical of the effectiveness of the searches on a system as large as ours. After seeming to be everywhere on Monday and Tuesday those little check tables appear to have become more scarce as the week progressed. By Friday even Gothamist was a little surprised by how rarely we saw them in our shleps around town (maybe we just pick the good subway entrances?). But that might be more about our travel habits then anything else as the NYPD is very adamant that not only have they not scaled back the searches, but that they will not anytime soon. The cost of this increased protection? Between $1.3 and $1.9 million in overtime a week.
So, after our first week, what have your experiences with the searches been? Good, bad, non-existant? Have they affected your commute?
Photograph by Robert Caplin for The New York Times.
