TooMuchBlue

My collection of rants and raves about technology, my kids and family, social/cultural phenomena, and inconsistencies in the media and politics.

2005-07-21

One more brick in the wall?

The Washington Post reports that New York City cops will be performing random searches on people entering the subway, in response to the second round of subway bombings in London in two weeks.
Passengers carrying bags will be selected at random before they pass through turnstiles, and those who refuse to be searched won't be allowed to ride, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. "We just live in a world where, sadly, these kinds of security measures are necessary," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "Are they intrusive? Yes, a little bit. But we are trying to find that right balance." The announcement drew complaints from civil liberties advocates in a city where an estimated 4.5 million passengers ride the subway on an average weekday. The system has more than 468 subway stations _ most with multiple entrances _ and the flood of commuters hurrying in and out of stations during rush hour can be overwhelming. Kelly stressed that officers posted at subway entrances would not engage in racial profiling, and that passengers are free to "turn around and leave." He also downplayed the possibility of bottlenecks at subway entrances.
I haven't tended to be very alarmed by most of the increased security measures, but something about this bugs me. On the face of it, it's not much different from what happens at airports, where everyone's bags are already Xrayed, and some (randomly or for cause) are subject to a more detailed search. Maybe it's because I see riding public transit as an everyday event, and riding an airplane as an exceptional event. Obviously, this isn't true for everyone. I generally find myself on the other side of any statement made by a Civil Liberties Union, but there's some truth in this statement:
The New York Civil Liberties Union said the searches violate basic rights and will inconvenience New Yorkers, but the group stopped short of threatening a legal challenge. "The NYPD can and should investigate any suspicious activity, but the Fourth Amendment prohibits police from conducting searches where there is no suspicion of criminal activity," executive director Donna Lieberman said.
I guess an important question is what was meant by the authors of the Fourth Amendment. Does it mean that we are absolutely protected against any search without cause, or was it intended to protect against searches for the wrong reasons, I.E. harrassment, poorly researched investigation. At the time this amendment was written, random searches for nothing at all were a not-too-distant memory. I'm inclined to think that searching for an item within an indistinct crowd, while seeming personally invasive, is on the whole far less of a violation of privacy than a "because I don't like you" search experienced in other countries, and may have some room under the Fourth Amendment. That still begs the question, is it right for them to search at all? This quote troubles me - here's a guy who doesn't get it.
"Sometimes you need to get to an appointment, you're running late and a cop stops you to delay you even further? That's going to create a mess," he said.
If the police are within legal parameters to perform random searches, the inconvenience of running late does not take priority. If you're concerned about being stopped, don't be late. Ultimately, a random search is not going to achieve what is necessary. Even if the police stop one in ten commuters carrying bags, if ten people decide to attack, nine of them will probably get through. Statistically speaking, it doesn't matter whether they're at the same station or different stations. I would hate to be part of the NYPD right now. It's very hard to search for someone when you don't know who you're looking for, but then, when you do know what you're searching for (e.g. olive skinned males between 18 and 25, as on 9/11/2001), that's labeled "profiling", even if it's not racially targeted. Bad news, civil libertarians: detective work involves figuring out who did it, then trying to find them. Without eyewitness tips or signed confessions, profiling is what it's all about.

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