Amtrak’s New Safety Measures Could do More Harm than Good
20 February 2008
Amtrak is a high speed train with service across the country. After September 11th, many people started traveling on the train more because there were fewer time consuming security checks. This is partly due to a lack of security increase on trains after 9-11. To make up for that, they are now planning to up security on Amtrak trains.
Starting this week, 3 new safety measures will be put into effect on the Boston/Washington DC trains. First, carry on bags will be randomly searched. Second, bomb sniffing dogs will be on the platform or in the train. Third, will be officers with automatic weapons will be patrolling the train.
Yes randomly searching carry on bags is better than no search, but is it really effective? Probably not. It will lead to racial profiling or just a waste of time. And if, God forbid, somebody did bring a weapon or explosive onto the train and their bag was not searched and the train blew up, how good was a random bag search? Not very.
Bomb sniffing dogs should be very effective. They sniff around. They tell you if there is a bomb. Why they cannot just sniff the passengers as they enter and all the luggage instead of being on the train is beyond me. I guess the terrorists will build a bomb on the train, without any explosive materials. Also, this could be a deterrent from using the train for people who are afraid of dogs or have an allergy to dogs.
The scariest part (at least in my mind) was the security guards with automatic firearms. If these guards are truly carrying automatic guns, they have to be federal agents because only federal agents can carry a fully automatic firearm across state borders. Now if you are on a train and, God forbid, something does happen, you don’t want a person shooting the criminal with a fully automatic gun. Anyone near the criminal will also be dead because an automatic firearm will shoot 50 to 100 rounds in seconds and spray a large area with bullets. When you add the variables of movement and bumps, the shots will hit an even larger area and potentially more people.
Now let’s assume the article was wrong and the fully automatic firearms are actually semi-automatic. Hopefully the criminal will be standing still, the officer will be well trained and there are no movements or bumps. Then the officer will most likely hit the criminal. If there is movement or bumps, then the officer could very easily miss the target and hit an innocent bystander. Also, for this to be legal, the officer would have to be licensed to carry in 8 states plus get a special license for Washington DC, which currently has a total gun ban.
The other issue with this is if an armed guard is standing in the cabin, the criminal knows who to target first to stop resistance and get an extra gun and ammo. This makes it easier for him to attack the train if he wants.
To me it was pretty scary that people did not think of the repercussions of these security methods on Amtrak. 86% of people thought that the security method were a positive thing according to an AOL poll.
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How did BU get an A for Campus Security?!?
19 February 2008
Reader’s Digest gave Boston University an A grade on college campus security. Out of the 135 colleges and universities that participated, BU ranked 11th. Although Reader’s Digest calls BU safe I think students on campus, including myself, would question the accuracy of that statement.
Considering the number of colleges that participated, I am surprised BU did so well. At the same time that number most likely does not accurately represent the number of schools in the US alone.
Three of the criteria for safety were the locks on dormitory doors (locks, chains, peepholes, etc.), the lecture at orientation and if the school has a mass emergency alert system.
Yes, the big dormitories have door locks (which are sometimes difficult to lock or unlock). But the smaller off campus dorms do not have the same quality door locks. Often in BU’s independent, student run newspaper, The Daily Free Press there are reports of break-ins and thefts at the apartments.
Yes, we had a half hour lecture on safety during orientation. Most people slept or talked through the lecture making it difficult to hear for those who were listening. That 30 minute lecture is the entirety of the safety briefing you get for your four years, unless a crime occurs.
Yes, we have a mass emergency alert system. It’s called Send Word Now. But on the tests, the 3 different messages come in several hours apart for most students. BU Police Department Chief, Thomas Robbins, even admits that many students turn off their cell phones during class and that certain parts of campus have bad reception. These problems make the Send Word Now system almost ineffective during an emergency.
The part that Reader’s Digest may have failed to take into account (or possibly didn’t know) was that at least 3 different girls have been sexually assaulted in dorms on campus THIS year. Only two of the men were caught. The dorm that two of the girls were sexually assaulted at has had repeated complaints of inattentive and rude security guards who were often not at the guard station.
The other problem is people getting hit by cars. Most of the accidents are minor and the pedestrian or bicyclist that is hit does not receive substantial injuries. This happens from people running red lights, not paying attention or students who feel that they should cross the street without looking. The BUPD has not helped this issue much. In fact a BUPD car hit a girl crossing the street one night while the police officer made an illegal U-Turn.
Although BU received an A from Reader’s Digest for safety, I do not feel any safer. In fact, I question if Reader’s Digest looked at all the information or only select pieces because in my mind the score they gave BU is misleading. If I had to rate campus safety I’d probably give it a C.
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