FUD` Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TSA and the Amtrak Police have a strained
> relationship at times. But the key point is that,
> unlike with airlines, people riding trains or
> buses don't have to go through security
> inspections and long lines at the stations. They
> just get on and ride. There are sometimes small
> teams roaming the platform at large stations
> asking to see ID and tickets, and sometimes
> luggage, but for the most part they're polite
> about it and seem to appear randomly (and not all
> that often). And of course the conductors do check
> IDs to go with tickets, on board. So it's security
> of a different kind, not the large-scale theater
> experienced at airports.

Obviously you can really crash a train into a building... However, London, Madrid, and Mumbai were quite real terrorist attacks on rail and transit infrastructure targets... And a lot of work was done after 9/11 and London and Madrid to up our game in transit security... A lot of time has now passed, and old memories dim.....

Without getting into unnecessary detail, as some in this discussion would seem to invite, you are under a great deal more surveillance than you think in major Amtrak Stations like LAUPT, and on much of our public transit systems, the degree to which we staff up and respond, and when is a more important question.

The good news about that level of surveillance is that obviously pne should not carry your dismembered bodies in a suitcase on the Goldline when you are being watched by 20 or so cameras at the two stations on on the train. The bad news is that we have so little response on the buses and trains, that folks notice, that weird crap happens on no one responds, even when it is reported. So, if no one is behind the camera to respond, it kind of is a problem,and a lot of people just stop riding.

So I do worry that our game is way down since 9/11 and the dangerous world we live in, full of crackpots, revolutionary true believers of various wannabee stripes, state actors wishing to cash in politically or economically, and of course the loosers seeking attention, is no less a dangerous place.

Amtrak and/or our commute or transit systems are not alone in this "dimming memory" of the lessons learned (or now being "unlearned"???) after 9/11...

But maybe that's just me....?

According to Putin's terrorist loving pal Nancy, I'm part of the evil military industrial complex for supporting silly things like the rule of law and maintaining the security and safety of our traveling public.

And, if I were to even suggest that we should use on-board surveillance to observe and/or arrest (but give them proper mental health care treatment if necessary) for something like public urination in a train, you should hear what the other fringe calls me...

With the Olympics coming, with transit ridership suffering from poor ridership because of a percieced and real lack of visible security, and remembering the security concerns we had back in 84 in planning the last Olympics, maybe upping our game a bit in the areas of rail and transit security might not be a bad thing?