Police continue random check on New York commuters

Commuters in New York City appeared cooperative as police started random bag searches Friday, one day after a new wave of terror attack struck London transportation system.

Random searches are also being conducted on buses, ferries and commuter trains. Anyone who refuses a search will not be allowed to ride. Those who caught carrying drugs or other contraband could be arrested.

Although authorities believe at least some the London bombers could be Muslim supporters of the al Qaeda terror network, New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the police's anti-terror measures will not target any particular ethnic group.

Police stopped every fifth person with a bag entering the station. Each search took only a few seconds. Police seemed to be striking a balance among those they stopped: old, young, white and black.

In some cases, officers dumped the contents onto a folding table set up near the turnstiles, and in others they fumbled through the bags.

"Every certain number of people will be checked," Kelly said earlier, stressing that "no racial profiling allowed."

Yet, representatives of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) said they are concerned.

Even if random, the searches "can invite the possibility of racial, ethnic or religious profiling," said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "The plan is not workable and will not make New Yorkers more secure, but will inconvenience them."

The random searches of straphangers carrying bags or backpacks began Thursday in selected parts of the subway system, and is now going on at stations throughout the city.

Police said they had considered instituting bag searches for three years. The emerging pattern of attacks on transit targets in London forced their hand, said Paul Browne, chief spokesman of NYPD.

Officials declined to say where and how frequently the random checks would occur or how long they would last. The NYPD had already doubled the number of officers who patrol the subway after the initial attack in London on July 7, at a cost of 2 million dollars a week in overtime.

Source: Xinhua