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Railfans detained for photographing trains on public property
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Oh boy, this kinda thing gives cops like me headaches. <br />First, the "source" of this account is the Internet. It's also a first person account. I have no way of determining whether this incident actually occurred or if it's the feverish product of someone's imagination. Given past experience trying to sift fact from hype on the Internet, I'll believe that something happened, but probably not quite in the way it's stated. <br /> <br />That being said, the subject of the article claimed he was taking pictures "on public property", specifically a METRA platform. Believe it or not, police officers are charged with the precise responsibility of enforcing laws on public property. The cop was doing his job. He probably could have been a lot more tactful. <br /> <br />I am personally not aware of any specific Federal laws prohibiting photography of "strategic installations and facilities", nor would I even try to enforce them. I have been trained, however, by Homeland Security and the JTTF to recognize and question suspicious activities that aren't criminal in nature. There are ways to request identification via my dispatchers from the JTTF on their watch lists. The response time could very well be slow... because most Federal agencies (INS, the FBI, and even the JTTF) don't respond very fast to local law enforcement. <br /> <br />The truth of the matter is that Homeland Security has had some successes in stopping threats by observant local law enforcement. Timothy McVeigh (who was the primary actor in the Murrah building bombing, Oklahoma City) was caught on a routine traffic stop. Another bomber was caught by a Customs officer in Washington state based solely on a "bad feeling" she had about the individual. And a third individual was caught on the New Jersey Turnpike carrying explosives in a routine traffic stop. <br /> <br />We as a people, routinely submit to search and seizures at airports; take a look at the signs conspicuously posted at your airport. Americans generally submit to those indignities simply because they don't want to get caught in an airplane traveling at 600 miles an hour plus aimed at a big building. <br /> <br />Similarly, I'd prefer not taking the 5:45AM to Penn Station if there's a good possibility that some nut- homegrown or representing a foreign agenda- is sticking a briefcase full of explosives on my train. All I need for proof of evil intent is a casual review of the Madrid bombing photos- or the attempted use of nerve agents on the Tokyo subway. <br /> <br />I'm sure that our correspondent had his feathers ruffled and missed his golden opportunity to catch that particular rascally locomotive. I'd rather have his feathers ruffled, frankly, than review videos of 18 hijackers casually walking through a checkpoint... or watching the collapse of another set of towers. <br /> <br />Erik <br />
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