Metro Bag Searches: Security or Stupidity?

by Bill Adler

The question needs to be asked, and it certainly needs to be answered: How is it possible that voluntary random bag searches at some Metro stations can thwart terrorists?

There's something totally lacking in the common sense department: If terrorists know which stations have random searches, all they have to do is avoid those stations and attack another day or from another place. Is it fair to call these searches idiotic? I think so. But perhaps somebody can explain how this will stop or give pause to terrorists? The more I think about these bag searches, where the bad guys know in advance where and when their bags might be searched, the more I'm convinced this is a very, very bad idea.

Metro isn't alone when it comes to security stupidity-- that may be a better name for this than "security theater." Security stupidity is something that can actually increase the likelihood of terrorism or cause scarce police resources to be deployed in the wrong place. Amtrak announces on each train that the conductor might ask to see ID to ensure that the name on the ticket matches the passenger. But this happens after the train has left the station. What will an armed terrorist do who's confronted by an unarmed conductor demanding to see identification? I know that's a train I don't want to be on.

Somebody, anybody: How can these very obvious and avoidable security screenings do anything to prevent terrorism?

Poll: Do You Support or Oppose Random Bag Searches in Metro?

The police will be conducting random bag searches at Metro stations.  Do you think that these screenings enhance security or are simply security theater?

Here is Metro's announcement:

The inspections are expected to take only minutes and are designed to be non-intrusive, as police will randomly select bags or packages to check for hazardous materials using ionization technology as well as K-9 units trained to detect explosive materials. Carry-on items will generally not be opened and physically inspected unless the equipment indicates a need for further inspection...Customers who encounter a baggage checkpoint at a station entrance may choose not to enter the station if they would prefer not to submit their carry-ons for inspection.

According to the Washington Post, the screenings will happen along these lines: 

The searches will take one or two minutes and will involve swabbing bags with special paper, which will be analyzed using a hand-held device that tests for explosives. A bag that tests positive will be double-checked by a bomb-sniffing dog. Only bags that test positive will be opened.

Passengers who refuse inspections will be allowed to leave the Metro station, but may be questioned. 

Metro's posted a video on YouTube about these bag checks, which you can view here.

Are random bag searches a good idea? Do they enhance security by deterring terrorists? And if they are a good idea, are they worth the inconvenience/civil liberties trade-off? On the one hand, some security specialists believe that the screenings have a deterrent effect; as Brian Michael Jenkins explained: "You put these into place because there's no question that these types of security measures do act as deterrent." (He's director of the Transportation Security Center at the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University.) On the other hand are the thousands of Metro riders who can see that there are dozens of Metro stations that will have no security. 

You can vote in All Life Is Local's poll.

Good Morning: Police to Do Random Bag Searches at Metro Stations

You can put your shovel away for the time being. The snow has stopped and Friday's relative warmth --a high of about 38 degrees-- and ample sunshine will melt away most of the white stuff. With the wind-chill factor it will feel closer to 32 degrees, though.

TBD and DCist report that the police will start conducting random bag searches at Metro entrances. You can refuse to have your bag checked, but if you do, you can't enter that Metro station.

I know that I'm not the only person who's puzzled by this impending policy that will not do anything to prevent a terrorist attack. All a terrorist has to do is say no and then either enter Metro from another station, try another day or wait until there aren't any police at that particular Metro station. Here is an excerpt from the official Metro announcement:

The inspections are expected to take only minutes and are designed to be non-intrusive, as police will randomly select bags or packages to check for hazardous materials using ionization technology as well as K-9 units trained to detect explosive materials. Carry-on items will generally not be opened and physically inspected unless the equipment indicates a need for further inspection. Anyone who is randomly selected and refuses to submit their carry-on items for inspection will be prohibited from bringing those items into the station. Customers who encounter a baggage checkpoint at a station entrance may choose not to enter the station if they would prefer not to submit their carry-ons for inspection.

The TSA will be assisting Metro in these screenings, which will take place at table set up in front of the entrance gates.