SFGate: On guard on the tracks/Armed with automatic weapons, high-profile SWAT teams patrol BART trains

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Scott Mace <scottmace () wiredmuse com>
Date: October 25, 2004 10:14:00 AM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: SFGate: On guard on the tracks/Armed with automatic weapons,  
high-profile SWAT teams patrol BART trains


 Thought you'd find this interesting in light of current political  
climate
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This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.
The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/ 
10/23/MNGKA9F73J1.DTL
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Saturday, October 23, 2004 (SF Chronicle)
On guard on the tracks/Armed with automatic weapons, high-profile SWAT  
teams patrol BART trains
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer


   Passengers did plenty of double-takes Friday morning as BART police  
Sgts.
Eugene Wong and Kevin Franklin, carrying assault rifles and gas masks  
and
clad in SWAT uniforms, made their way through the Balboa Park station in
San Francisco.
   "D-a-a-a-amn!" exclaimed Stephan Lee, 40, as the sergeants strode  
past him
on the platform. "This isn't even the airport!"
   Bernedette Bell, 40, had a similar reaction. At first, she thought  
that
something was wrong. But Franklin reassured her, "Just high-profile  
patrol
right now."
   The transit agency has had a special weapons and tactics team --  
commonly
known as SWAT -- for many years, and regular BART officers have been on
heightened alert since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
   But for the first time, BART tactical officers, following the lead of
transit agencies in cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Washington,
began patrolling the system this week to deter potential terrorists as
election day draws near. BART is the only transit agency in Northern
California that is deploying SWAT officers on a routine basis.
   No specific threats have been reported to BART or any other transit
agency, but authorities don't want to take any chances, said BART Police
Chief Gary Gee.
   "For months, there has been a national security concern that a  
terrorist
attack will disrupt the upcoming elections," Gee said.
   That's why Franklin, 34, and Wong, 42, spent several hours Friday  
getting
on and off trains as they made their way from BART police headquarters  
at
the Lake Merritt station in Oakland to San Francisco International
Airport.
   They were met by plenty of quizzical stares and some raised eyebrows  
as
they inspected various stations, peeked out the doors of some trains and
walked the length of others, looking for anything amiss.
   Franklin used the muzzle of his rifle at one point to look under a  
pile of
newspapers on a seat.
   "Is that yours?" Wong asked a bearded man, who looked at a green bag  
on a
train seat and nodded.
   As a train hurtled toward San Francisco, Wong asked the same  
question of
Antonio Nieves, 55, of Oakland. "It's my lunch," Nieves said sheepishly  
of
a plastic bag sitting at his feet.
   "I think these guys are doing a pretty good job," Nieves said.
   At the Balboa Park station, Joel Mansfield, 22, of San Francisco  
doffed
his hat at the sergeants. "It's good to see you out here," he told them.
   Franklin and Wong made a point of greeting riders with disarming  
smiles
while at the same time keeping their fingers at the ready on their M-4  
and
AR- 15 rifles.
   "How are you? How are you doing?" they said repeatedly. They waved to
train operators as they pulled into stations.
   Wong, a nine-year BART police veteran, turned serious when he saw a  
man,
apparently late, trying to wedge open the doors to a train. "Don't hold
open the door," Wong said sternly.
   BART train operator Heidi Quinonez, 31, riding to the San Francisco
airport, said the patrols are comforting. "I know they're looking for
suspicious people or suspicious packages," she said. "It feels safe."
   The sergeants told riders who chatted with them to notify police if  
they
see anything suspicious.
   The high-visibility patrols, which include explosive-detecting K-9  
units
and volunteers in fluorescent vests, might continue after election day,
BART police said.
   "We don't want terrorists to think, 'Cool, after the election we can  
do
anything we want to do,' " said Franklin, a former Oakland police  
officer
and eight-year veteran of the BART force.
   The special patrols will also be done at different times of the day
throughout the 43-station system, which runs through four counties.
   "We decided to have officers do random sweeps," Wong said. "If  
terrorists
want to scope us out, we didn't want them to see our routine."
   BART's SWAT team, consisting of 18 officers, two medics and a  
commander,
used to be called SPAR, for the Special Problems and Rescue team. But  
too
many people were confused. "They thought it was a boxing team or
something," Gee said.
   E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee () sfchronicle com.  
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle

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