http://www.wtop.com/654/2899551/Metros-bag-searches-net-no-arrests And in other breaking news, muggings in which a gun is displayed almost always end up in the victim handing over his cash. What kind of pushback was that thug Chief Taborn expecting? Mass riots at Metro station entrances?
No, but maybe more than 10 who give a (expletive deleted) about their civil liberties. But then this doesn't surprise me. When I brought this up with friends over a year ago, I got a collective "meh."
The typical rider only cares about these searches under one circumstance: it causes him to miss his train.
The bag checks are designed to look for explosives and are just one layer of multiple security layers that a transit agency has to deter someone who wants to cause harm to the system. The random nature of it is what serves as a deterrent." There's those damn "layers of security" again that we hear so often about at the airports.
You know, when you think about it, toilet paper is a layer too. It even comes in various degrees of layerness: 1-ply, 2-ply, 3-ply.
I've only seen them during rush hours at stations which allow easy access for themselves and TV trucks. After all, security theater needs an audience. The only time I've seen them outside rush hour was once at Federal Center Southwest, which happens to be very close to FEMA HQ. It would have been really easy to walk 1/4 mile to L'Enfant Plaza. I know we laugh about how easy it is to just go in another entrance or walk up the street, but, the only way to take our country back is to confront these things head-on. Simply avoiding them is part of the issue, but is not the primary issue.
Totally agree. But I've already said why I'm not hopeful: every single one of my friends and colleagues, including reporters at NPR, shrugged their shoulders when I brought this up over a year ago. All said they would comply.
Have to love the TSA apologists whenever there is an article on this. The type who say nobody can PROVE this is not making things safer. While playing the three monkeys whenever someone explains some of the ways it would be trivial to get around this (and how the checks actually make it LESS safe).