Case
08-23-2006, 08:53 PM
It seems to me that lately we have been in a weird situation. Least Some other fellow New Yorkers. First we got the cell phone gun thing here in the city... The NY Post compares it to a James Bond gadget (http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/66184.htm), as the NYPD issued an alert to for police officers to be careful when people go through security at city government buildings. Found a website that has photos of the cellphone gun (http://www.iacsp.com/deadly-decoys.html), and the digital touchpad buttons are the trigger and the antenna is where the gun barrel! The phones are apparently heavier than regular cellphones and they don't light up (they go to all the trouble of masking the gun and they throw in a lousy lighted screen?).But any way people with large flip phones were getting stoped and searched and inspected. And the occasional paranoid women on the subway OMG HES GOT A GUN when you get stoped for holding a razor phone.
Just before this and still on going is the random bag checks. This one makes no sense to me in this new era of pro-active policing, granted its not happening as often as it once did when they first started but every time we get another scare or alert it gets bad again. At first the NYPD says they will not be racially profiling (in fact, most of the riders' concerns are whether or not the police will target certain people more) as they embark on these random subway bag checks, but they are sort of fashion profiling: The NYPD is going to focus on rucksacks and bags big enough for explosives. This has managed to digress to any one who had a out of the ordinary bag, I have started noticing the the vast majority that was getting stopped was those with the neat hard shell backpack's, the Backpacks and messenger bags that have solar panels (http://www.voltaicsystems.com/) and any other gadget driving out of the ordinary bag.
Than started the Camera problems! The NYC Transit Authority decided putting the subway photo ban back up for vote with the MTA board! Low and behold it did not pass... But its clearly legal and allowed but since than people have been super paranoid of others with cameras specially compact ones and Camera Phones. See the MTA issues bulletins to be aware of strange bags and others taking photos in the subway that can be "a terrorist threat". So now people are getting pulled aside left and right and being searched (http://www.subchat.com/read.asp?Id=296779), and repremanded for absolutely no reason for having a camera.
I my self have been subject to these things on more than one occasion unlawfully. And theres little to nothing any eon here can do about it. But what does this say for the future of our holy geeky gadgets. I mean I am a photography nut its a extension of my right arm i rarely go any where with out a camera. I all ways have a laptop on me 70% of the time and other gadgets that has unintentionally got me into some trouble with police because of their lack of knowledge and understanding.
Is it just NYC because we have been targeted with actual acts of terrorism 3or4 times or more now? The green laser paranoia has also settled in here. We had a kid that was Stargazing in Central Park get ares ted on charges of Possession of Lethal Weapon with a laser from thinkgeek.
Just figure i bring this current situation up to surface and see what other people who are gadget nuts have to say.
On a compleatly Seprate note but defnetly having to do with this...
When there's a bottle, there's a way to get nervous. Two separate incidents, one underground and the other in the air, involving bottled liquids caused diversions and stoppages. A flight from Atlanta to NYC was diverted to Charlotte, NC (http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/ny-bc-ny--planediverted0823aug22,0,1980158.story?coll=am-topheadlines) when a flight attendant was concerned about a strange-smelling bottle of water. Or make that "water." Once the plane landed, the bomb-sniffing dogs were brought on and crew and passengers were interviewed. But nothing suspicious or hazardous was found, and the flight got back on its way three hours later. Of course, the passengers had to be re-screened, and one apparently had a "medical emergency" and went to the hospital. But all in the name of safety, no?
And on a 6 train yesterday morning, the police were told there was a "suspicious bottle of liquid" seen at 125th Street. So the NYPD spot-checked the train at a number of stations in MIdtown (http://nydailynews.com/front/story/445981p-375385c.html). According to the Daily News, the police asked, "Is anyone carrying a liquid?" leading a woman in gym clothes to give up her "Poland Spring water bottle with red juice inside it" (the police took the bottle). This should be interesting - will the police start checking the liquids we carry when they do bag searches? But if this means they'll get rid of the bottle of pee on the platform, is it such a bad thing to be paranoid?
Just before this and still on going is the random bag checks. This one makes no sense to me in this new era of pro-active policing, granted its not happening as often as it once did when they first started but every time we get another scare or alert it gets bad again. At first the NYPD says they will not be racially profiling (in fact, most of the riders' concerns are whether or not the police will target certain people more) as they embark on these random subway bag checks, but they are sort of fashion profiling: The NYPD is going to focus on rucksacks and bags big enough for explosives. This has managed to digress to any one who had a out of the ordinary bag, I have started noticing the the vast majority that was getting stopped was those with the neat hard shell backpack's, the Backpacks and messenger bags that have solar panels (http://www.voltaicsystems.com/) and any other gadget driving out of the ordinary bag.
Than started the Camera problems! The NYC Transit Authority decided putting the subway photo ban back up for vote with the MTA board! Low and behold it did not pass... But its clearly legal and allowed but since than people have been super paranoid of others with cameras specially compact ones and Camera Phones. See the MTA issues bulletins to be aware of strange bags and others taking photos in the subway that can be "a terrorist threat". So now people are getting pulled aside left and right and being searched (http://www.subchat.com/read.asp?Id=296779), and repremanded for absolutely no reason for having a camera.
I my self have been subject to these things on more than one occasion unlawfully. And theres little to nothing any eon here can do about it. But what does this say for the future of our holy geeky gadgets. I mean I am a photography nut its a extension of my right arm i rarely go any where with out a camera. I all ways have a laptop on me 70% of the time and other gadgets that has unintentionally got me into some trouble with police because of their lack of knowledge and understanding.
Is it just NYC because we have been targeted with actual acts of terrorism 3or4 times or more now? The green laser paranoia has also settled in here. We had a kid that was Stargazing in Central Park get ares ted on charges of Possession of Lethal Weapon with a laser from thinkgeek.
Just figure i bring this current situation up to surface and see what other people who are gadget nuts have to say.
On a compleatly Seprate note but defnetly having to do with this...
When there's a bottle, there's a way to get nervous. Two separate incidents, one underground and the other in the air, involving bottled liquids caused diversions and stoppages. A flight from Atlanta to NYC was diverted to Charlotte, NC (http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/ny-bc-ny--planediverted0823aug22,0,1980158.story?coll=am-topheadlines) when a flight attendant was concerned about a strange-smelling bottle of water. Or make that "water." Once the plane landed, the bomb-sniffing dogs were brought on and crew and passengers were interviewed. But nothing suspicious or hazardous was found, and the flight got back on its way three hours later. Of course, the passengers had to be re-screened, and one apparently had a "medical emergency" and went to the hospital. But all in the name of safety, no?
And on a 6 train yesterday morning, the police were told there was a "suspicious bottle of liquid" seen at 125th Street. So the NYPD spot-checked the train at a number of stations in MIdtown (http://nydailynews.com/front/story/445981p-375385c.html). According to the Daily News, the police asked, "Is anyone carrying a liquid?" leading a woman in gym clothes to give up her "Poland Spring water bottle with red juice inside it" (the police took the bottle). This should be interesting - will the police start checking the liquids we carry when they do bag searches? But if this means they'll get rid of the bottle of pee on the platform, is it such a bad thing to be paranoid?