Working with your Local Police

[Anonymous]

I sent a e-mail to our mayor here in Arlington,Texas about designated railfaning sites and the thought to create a police registry for railfans to sign up to. So that background checks and the such could be conducted so that when an officer stops to question us about our activities when he runs our ID he will learn that we are legitimate railfans. The idea is to provide safety but also cut down on the police having to wait for all the checks to be made. This is the response I got...


Mr. Allen



We appreciate you taking the time to write us with your concern. While national security is of the utmost importance to everyone, I can see how you and others would be frustrated with the limiting of your hobby. Several agencies need to be brought together to look at this issue. I will contact the federal, state and local agencies as well as the railroads to get the dialogue started. I hope I can call on you for input as we work through this issue.

[gabe]

Nuclearwinter: put the genie back in the bottle, tip-toe away, and pretend you didn't just do that!

I commend your enthusiasm. But, as a rail fan, I don't really know if you want to be doing this.

As it is right now, some of us get bothered by officers. We have to give an ID when asked. Though many complain about this, trust me, we rail fans currently have the best alternative in a post-911 world. Leaving the officer on the scene—whose actions are accountable in a court of law—with discretion is the best way for things to work for the betterment of rail fanning and rail safety. Although some officers are overzealous, most know the situation and the bulky machinery of government—that does not work well with case-by-case scenarios—does not have to get involved.

The LAST LAST LAST LAST LAST LAST LAST LAST LAST thing you want to do with this is get government agencies involved. I turned white when I read "several agencies need to be brought together to look at this issue." Multiple agencies working together on the issue equals trouble for both rail fans and police officers. These agencies will develop rigid procedures that could care less about your interests and take away from the discretion of the officer on the scene (which benefits rail fans in 88% of situations).

Let sleeping dogs lie; there are so many things that could go wrong if you invite the government in on this one.

Gabe

[CopCarSS]

As much as I'd like to help the law enforcement agencies, providing background information before I ever go trackside just to be a railfan seems a little 1984 to me. I kind of was wondering about this whole thing over the weekend.

Amongst my many excursions, I stopped near Denver International Airport, and was shooting some planes on final. I was using my 500mm f4.5, which I'm sure looked like a mountain howitzer to passing motorists (although there weren't many of them since DIA is practically in Kansas). I was just waiting to see a police cruiser pull up behind me. I'm sure it would be an interesting conversation between me having a former police cruiser, and a mammoth lens set up on a tripod pointed at landing planes.

Would some kind of database be useful there? Probably. Do I still feel like it would be an invasion of privacy? Yes. Would I participate in such a program just for the goal of participating in a hobby I enjoy? Probably not.

Just my personal preferences, of course. I wish you the best of luck with your program if it moves forward.

Chris
Denver, CO

[Anonymous]

Actually, my thought was not that I am bothered by officer stopping me. That I dont' mind. Yet, seeing how they would run a background check anyway I thought this might be a way to cut down on their valuable time and to assist them. Your right it does sound a little 1984 but I am not sure we are not already there. My intent is only a registry not a full blown database more like a set flag in your already CIC database. However, I do agree you brought up some points I haven't thought of.

[Kurn]

We've all seen the WWII POW movies where the German politzie or Gestapo agent demands "Papers please"."It can't happen here",we thought.Guess again.I' m not gonna ask "permission" if I want to see a train from PUBLIC property.

[tree68]

We discussed having some form of universal "railfan ID" some time ago. The general consensus then was that it sounds good, but wouldn't work. The advice then (and it's still valid) was to railfan on publicly accessible property, and be polite when the police stop to talk to you.

It's been said many times that once the officer finds out what you're doing he/she will often stay to chat about trains for a while. On the other hand, they may be more worried about your well being than your threat to the railroad. We all know that railroads don't always run through the toniest of neighborhoods, but in our quest for that special picture, we forget sometimes.

[RudyRockvilleMD]

While this sounds good in theory it has been my experience the police rarely bother railfans who are watching or photographing trains from public property. setting up a registry would not be easy and it would be costly. Add to that you may have to give some pesonal data that you wouldn't care to divulge such as your Social security number. Recent news events have reported several cases of computer hacking with the theft of personal data which could lead to many cases of identity theft. Withall of the concerns about personal privacy and identity theft this registry is a bad idea.

Rudy

[AlcoRS11Nut]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Kurn

We've all seen the WWII POW movies where the German politzie or Gestapo agent demands "Papers please"."It can't happen here",we thought.Guess again.I' m not gonna ask "permission" if I want to see a train from PUBLIC property.

Amen to that...........

we could all play the part of Sgt. Schulz (Hogan Heros) and "know nos-sing)

[adrianspeeder]

And what keeps someone that would do harm from getting the same "badge". I'd leave it alone.

Adrianspeeder

[Anonymous]

My bet?...Now that they have your ID on file, you will be a "soft" suspect for any and all mischief that happens along that stretch of track,...from now on.