NEW YORK - Police will begin random searches of bags and packages carried by people entering city subways, officials announced Thursday after a new series of bomb attacks in London.
Passengers carrying bags will be selected at random before they pass through turnstiles, and those who refuse to be searched won't be allowed to ride, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
"We just live in a world where, sadly, these kinds of security measures are necessary," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "Are they intrusive? Yes, a little bit. But we are trying to find that right balance."
The announcement drew complaints from civil liberties advocates in a city where an estimated 4.5 million passengers ride the subway on an average weekday. The system has more than 468 subway stations — most with multiple entrances — and the flood of commuters hurrying in and out of stations during rush hour can be overwhelming.
Increased security at subway stations? The loony left springs into action:
Ace responds:
It's very simple. There are some on the left that don't like the real world. They'd prefer a different world, one in which terrorism wasn't occurring, and if it were perpetrated, then perpetrated by White Male Corporate Pigs rather than Oppressed Heroic Multicultural Victims that they're supposed to feel solidarity with.
So they're just checking out. This world doesn't please them, so they'll engage in a bit of collective communal fantasy -- a bit like live-action role-playing, except with Birkenstocks and moccachinos instead of broadswords and wizards' staves -- and wish all the icky stuff away.
I don't think anyone likes the idea of these searches, but this is a matter of priorities. What's worse, though, a few gone-through purses or a bomb going off under Wall Street?
And it isn't like people are being forced to expose the contents of their bags to the police. The people who don't like this are free to pick another mode of transportation. Just like people who don't like airport security are free to do the same.
Update:
This is more like it.