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Queens Man Says He Was Stopped For A Bag Search Three Times In One Day
NY1 ^
| July 27, 2005
| Solana Pyne
Posted on 07/28/2005 3:57:53 AM PDT by csvset
Queens Man Says He Was Stopped For A Bag Search Three Times In One Day
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July 27, 2005
The Police Department says its subway bag searches are random, but a Queens man says he's not so sure because he claims he was stopped several times on just one day. NY1s Solana Pyne filed this report.
I felt humiliated. You know, there's a certain anxiety level every time I walk through a subway station or walk through a security checkpoint, says Yogi Patell, a CUNY Law student.
Patell says police stopped him three times at three separate subway stations last Friday, the day they began bag searches in the subway.
I was on my way to Brooklyn. I'm interning at the Immigrant Defense Project, and I started off here in Flushing, he says.
After picking up papers at CUNY Law School, where he's a third-year law student, Patell says he went to get the No. 7 train and was searched. He made his way to Penn Station and got off the train to meet a friend. Before re-entering, he says, he was searched again.
From Penn Station, Patell came down to Chambers Street, where he got off the train and delivered some documents. When he went to get back on, police were again stopping and searching bags. That, says Patell, is when he was searched for the third time.
It's hard for me to say it's anything else other than profiling, he says. You know, obviously I can't prove it. I can't sit here and say I noticed them doing it to every South Asian as they walked by, but it's this feeling, this eerie feeling.
The NYPD says it has no explanation for why Patell might have been stopped three times, but insists the searches are random and that people are selected by a numerical formula. They call profiling bad policing, and say a supervisor is there to make sure cops doing the searches follow the department's formula.
But Patell questions whether searches are the best use of police resources, and said that even if they are random, There's a certain amount of stigma with these searches.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, which opposes the searches and is considering a lawsuit challenging their legality, agrees.
It's quite understandable, indeed predictable, that the immigrant community, particularly the South Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant community would be freaked out by this policy because of the practices over the last three years of singling out Middle Eastern and South Asian men for interrogations, for FBI visits, for homeland security actions, says the Donna Lieberman of the NYCLU.
Lieberman said the NYCLU had only received a few reports of profiling since the policy started. Right now, they are sending teams out to observe the search practices and asking the Police Department to release memos outlining the formula.
As for Patell, he says he hasn't taken the subway since Friday.
- Solana Pyne |
TOPICS: Government; US: New York; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aclu; idp; justdamn; nonprofile; nysda; profile; profiling; upj; whiningwahabbists
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To: tcostell
He could quit carrying bags that look like the ones the bombers use. He could consider changing his demeanour so he doesn't look as if he's hiding something. But if he's quit riding the subway (and I hope he's being searched before he boards buses too), so much the better.
I'm searched every time I go into a motorsport facility and whenever I go into a casino. I don't care, as I'm not carrying anything I ought not to have.
To: csvset
I felt humiliated. You know, there's a certain anxiety level every time I walk through a subway station or walk through a security checkpoint, says Yogi Patell, a CUNY Law student. I will not say "if you have nothing to hide, why do you have a problem having your bag searched?" I think that is a weak argument, because I don't like having my bag searched, ever, simply because it is an invasion of my privacy.
But "a certain anxiety level"? Why anxiety? Does he really think the police officers are going to harrass or harm him if his bag does not contain anything dangerous?
I have been to some Third-World hellholes in my time, and a certain level of anxiety is completely understandable in those cases, because the young illiterate kid sticking an AK-47 in your ear is not, shall we say, well trained, and the chain of command can be somewhat casual. But these conditions do not exist in New York City.
So you have this man, by his own account, meeting people in the train station and carrying bags onto subway trains while experiencing "a certain anxiety level" every time he walks through a subway station or walks through a security checkpoint. Completely absent any racial aspect, this is just the sort of activity the police are looking out for. You want them to be stopping nervous men carrying bags who are meeting people in the stations and boarding multiple trains, regardless of race.
But Patell questions whether searches are the best use of police resources, and said that even if they are random, There's a certain amount of stigma with these searches.
This statement makes no sense, whatsoever. If the searches are random, why is there "a certain amount of stigma"? If the searches are random, they are completely neutral with regards to "stigma".
In any case, even assuming things are completely random, if the police are searching 50,000 out of 2,000,000 passengers a day, it is statistically inevitable that at least a few passengers will be searched three or four times in a day.
22
posted on
07/28/2005 4:44:07 AM PDT
by
gridlock
(ELIMINATE PERVERSE INCENTIVES)
To: gridlock
You want them to be stopping nervous men carrying bags who are meeting people in the stations and boarding multiple trains, regardless of race.Heck yes, the nervous guy with the bag should be the one pulled aside. If he doesn't like it, lump it.
23
posted on
07/28/2005 4:53:29 AM PDT
by
csvset
To: csvset
Coincidence. In a city of several million odds are coincidences will occur.
24
posted on
07/28/2005 4:55:32 AM PDT
by
Junior
(Just because the voices in your head tell you to do things doesn't mean you have to listen to them)
To: Junior
25
posted on
07/28/2005 5:01:35 AM PDT
by
dirk33
To: montag813
So we don't have enough "civil rights" lawyers, now we have to import them?? He aids and abets foreigners accused of crimes. As far as I'm concerned, he's an agitator, an agent provocateur, a subversive element.
26
posted on
07/28/2005 5:03:11 AM PDT
by
csvset
To: csvset
I felt humiliated. You know, there's a certain anxiety level every time I walk through a subway station or walk through a security checkpoint, says Yogi Patell, a CUNY Law student. I hear there are planes and ships leaving this fine country almost hourly. If the searches upset you there is a remedy. If you choose to stay then do all of us a favor and please STFU! Thank you.
To: csvset
Queens Man Says He Was Stopped For A Bag Search Three Times In One DayGood.
To: montag813
Actually, my bet is that he's an American-born child of Indian parents (guessing from his name). My boyfriend is from India, lived in Bombay during the riots of '92-'93 (and actually got hit by a stray bullet), and he doesn't mind one bit when he gets searched before getting on city transit. Most people from India are very aware of the effects of Islamic terrorism, and many feel they are being helpful when they allow themselves to be searched (and therefore eliminated as a threat).
BTW, this is my very first FR post! I've been lurking for about two years, but just signed up for an account today.
To: gridlock
Good!! I'm glad to hear that they are profiling to some degree and searching the suspicious looking characters. It's past time to get serious about terrorists.
30
posted on
07/28/2005 5:24:25 AM PDT
by
caver
(Yes, I did crawl out of a hole in the ground.)
To: CarlEOlsoniii
"I was on my way to Brooklyn. I'm interning at the Immigrant Defense Project, and I started off here in Flushing," he says.
After picking up papers at CUNY Law School, where he's a third-year law student, Patell says he went to get the No. 7 train and was searched. He made his way to Penn Station and got off the train to meet a friend. Before re-entering, he says, he was searched again.Great. How much are American taxpayers paying to train the enemy to undermine the country?
To: csvset
Hey, Yogi!
32
posted on
07/28/2005 5:29:33 AM PDT
by
AnAmericanMother
(. . . Ministrix of ye Chace (recess appointment), TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary . . .)
To: csvset
I think I could make a fortune in New York selling see-thru bags.
To: csvset
"It's hard for me to say it's anything else other than profiling," he says. He's obviously not versed in queue theory. Random events exhibit "clumping."
34
posted on
07/28/2005 5:31:35 AM PDT
by
Cboldt
To: AirForceBrat23
my bet is that he's an American-born child of Indian parentsIf that's true, they must be devastated that he has got involved with the communist-run Immigrant Defense Project.
To: csvset
Schools all over the USA require clear plastic backpacks so that students can't carry weapons and drugs in them. That should be required to ride public transport. Carry a clear bag or no bag at all. Get used to this new life style brought to you courtesy of the ROP.
To: gridlock
If the searches are random, why is there "a certain amount of stigma"? I am occasionally taken aside by TSA for more invasive searches. I figure that event stigmatizes THEM, not me. Especially when, after they announce their thorough search is complete, I point out zippered sections of my carry-on that they have overlooked.
37
posted on
07/28/2005 5:38:16 AM PDT
by
Cboldt
To: TaxRelief
That depends; India DOES have a communist party!
To: AirForceBrat23
Welcome!
I work with an Iranian refugee who feels the same way. He is one of our delivery drivers, and every time he takes a load out to Fort Knox he makes a point of insisting that they at least give the truck a quick, but thorough, search. If any of the guards try to point out his familiarity, Paul informs them that most bombers scout their targets moltiple times and try to become familiar to any security personnel.
39
posted on
07/28/2005 5:41:27 AM PDT
by
Stonewall Jackson
(Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. - John Adams)
To: csvset
What is "NY1"? Is it a New York Times / CBS wannabe? Do they regularly publish these kinds of sob stories?
40
posted on
07/28/2005 5:43:42 AM PDT
by
COBOL2Java
(Many Democrats are not weak Americans. But nearly all weak Americans are Democrats.)
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