more on NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ... [ as I said often .. Kabuki theater djf

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: July 23, 2005 10:43:55 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: lauren () vortex com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on NYC to search transit riders' bags -- but ...


Dave,

Reports on the NYC transit system searches are revealing what can
best be described as bizarre discrepancies that obviously don't fall
within the normal definition even of "random" searches.  No
standards appear to be in place for search procedures, as per:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/nyregion/23york.html?pagewanted=1

Also noted were activities such as:

   At Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, officers
   were seen asking riders to show a driver's license or other
   identification and *writing down the personal information*
   [emphasis added]. Several of the riders - whose bags were
   searched but who were not detained or told they had done anything
   wrong - said in interviews that they felt their privacy had been
   violated.

   "If you want to check my bag, check my bag, but why do you have to
    take down my personal details?" Shakeel Ahmed, 35, a dentist from
    Mineola, N.Y., who was on his way to work in Brooklyn, asked in an
    interview. "Why do they want to know my ID, my address?"

But perhaps most telling was Mayor Bloomberg's quote, which
reveals that -- as we suspected -- the authorities know
all too well that the entire exercise is largely farcical theater:

   "Clearly, we'll do it for a little while.  It's partially designed
    to make people feel comfortable . . . and keep the potential
    threat away," Bloomberg (R) said in his weekly radio show, as
    reported by the Associated Press.

That pretty much says it all.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () eepi org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
  - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, EEPI
  - Electronic Entertainment Policy Initiative - http://www.eepi.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com


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