Just about EVERYONE who rides metro carries a bag of some sort. I know I do. My bag always has random stuff in it...newspaper, camera, work ID, brush, food, etc. All of my personal, private belongings.
According to washingtonpost.com, Metro will begin conducting random bag searches. In efforts to thwart terrorism, metro will begin to conduct "random inspections of rider's backpacks and packages." I'm not sure how I feel about this folks. I mean, yeah, I understand the purpose and cause, but I know for SURE I will be pissed when/if I am ever subject to a random search.
Maybe I should carry random stuff in my bad. Mouse traps, a thong, and a headless barbie doll. I wonder if that would get me arrested, or labeled as a person of interest. Maybe Metro should go ahead and make us take off our shoes to walk thru a metal detector.
I wonder how "random" will these searches remain over time...
What happens if I refuse?
6 comments:
Are you kidding me? So does that mean we'll actually see a Metro police officer more than once a quarter?
interesting! the main issue i see is if the inspection causes someone to miss their transfer... ie if they stop me and i miss my MARC... look out!
and what this is like 7 YEARS AFTER...inredible...i am the BAG lady on Metro i carry a lot of stuff, especially on Monday so it will be interesting indeed.
yea you can refuse. they just won't let you on that metro stop. that was my understanding from the article. but yea it will be a pain. esp. if it's the middle of the day or the weekend when trains are 20 mins apart. people will be mad to miss trains for this.
This is another cockamamie useless waste of Metro manpower and resources. METRO, ARE YOU TELLING US that you have a better chance of finding that terrorist or nutjob intending to do harm by detaining random people throughout the day, among the MILLION PLUS who enter your system daily? ARE YOU TELLING US that targeted profiling, based on credible threat patterns, is LESS RELIABLE than randomness?????? Are you out of your minds??
If I am intent on harming someone, I am going to have SIGNALS given off (atypical dress, manner, and interactions), both conscious and unconscious. Can't you take your current "waste-of-taxpayer-money" self and invest in logical TRAINING for your workers instead of giving them an Ace to hrrass and terrorize those who, to any TRAINED eye, are Metro Dollar$ in a suit and NOT terrorists?????
I swear, I could run Metro with my hands tied behind my back. I don't even USE Metro regularly and this policy has my hackles raised. As long as Metro Board Members and Management (who are supposed to be riding Metro daily, ahem) are targeted and humiliated as well as the rest of us and not released when they flash a badge...it's still just a half-assed, eyes-closed-in-the-dark approach to a serious problem!!!!!!!
After exiting the Waterfront Metro stop with a young man, just a month ago, that pulled a healthy tropical snake from his bag, to put around his neck, I have to be supportive of this policy. In fact, I hope it was my alarming call that pushed this policy to fruition. For us, all.
Post a Comment