Random bag searches begin on the Washington Metro

[marmar]

from the WaPo:



Metro police began random inspections of passengers' bags and packages Tuesday morning, irritating some riders and reassuring others.

A handful of Metro Transit Police officers, bomb-sniffing dogs and Transportation Security Administration officers hastily set up inspection tables near the entrances to the Braddock Road and College Park stations, pulling aside customers with bags large enough to carry an explosive device.

Law enforcement officials have uncovered two alleged threats against Metro in recent weeks. Public transit systems around the world are considered a prime target for terrorists seeking to inflict mass casualties. On Tuesday, police in Rome found a bomb under the seat of a subway car. They later determined that it was defective.

Metro's bag inspections averaged about 30 seconds but ran as long as eight minutes in the case of one man whose bag tested positive for a chemical used in explosives. The bag was subsequently X-rayed. Police questioned the man, who they said was a government worker, and released him. "I'm going to work," the man said curtly as he strode to the fare gates. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/21/AR2010122105534.html

[MadHound]

1. More insanity in the name of security,

Osama is somewhere laughing at us as our civil liberties disappear.

[lunatica]

2. I wonder if they're going to start banning things like water bottles or shoes

[stray cat]

3. SO metal detectors in schools have to go because of civil liberties

[MadHound]

4. How do schools fit in this context?

[marmar]

5. You read my mind.....

..... If there's a point in the previous post, I'm not intrepid enough to find it.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. What has this story got to do with schools or metal detectors?

Way off in the weeds....

[Tommy_J]

6. Enough

I'm sick of this crap. Fear is the end goal of terrorism. This is one more step toward defeat.

[leveymg]

8. Don't use an old fertilizer bag as a purse, no matter how fashionable.

[Kennah]

9. And if one has a desperate death wish, leave a wire trailing out of it