Town Officials Threatened With Arrest For Trespassing

[Gilbert B Norman]

There is no longer a Forum for general discussion of railfanning, but I believe this New York Times article appearing this past Wednesday, has reporting that anyone railfanning should keep in mind:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/busin ... ecret.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brief passage:

• Jodi Ross, town manager in Westford, Mass., did not expect she would be threatened with arrest after she and her fire chief went onto the railroad tracks to find out why a train carrying liquid petroleum gas derailed on a bridge in February.
  But as they reached the accident site northwest of Boston, a manager for Pan Am Railways called the police, claiming she was trespassing on rail property. The cars were eventually put back on the tracks safely, but the incident underlined a reality for local officials dealing with railroads.
  
  “They don’t have to tell us a thing,” Ms. Ross said. “It’s a very arrogant attitude.”
  
  American railroads have long operated under federal laws that shield them from local or state oversight and provide a blanket of secrecy over much of their operations. But now a rapid rise in the number of trains carrying crude oil — along with a series of derailments and explosions — has brought new concern about the risks of transporting dangerous cargo by rail.

If municipal officials can be threatened with arrest, how about inquisitive 'kid railfan'?

Even 'back in my day' when I was employed within the industry, I quickly learned that any information appearing on a waybill, such as lading, rates, and routing and be it one car or a unit train, is privileged and can only be released to the public on a need to know basis. I was long gone from the industry before both 9/11 and the proliferation of handling crude oil, on which clearly, as the article describes, there has been a learning curve regarding safe movement of such.

[NHV 669]

There is already an active thread regarding this topic here:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 5&t=155028

[Gilbert B Norman]

Thanks for the immediate 'heads up', Mr. NHV.

Reiterating, if there was still a Forum covering all railfanning at this site, that is where I would have placed this material. If a sworn Peace Officer, and I would presume the B&M Police are so empowered, to threaten arrest of municipal officials for what could be construed as doing their job, where would leave some railfan simply pursuing a hobby?

The article likely was considered by The Times as investigative reporting, which, Rush Limbaugh aside, is likely the best out there.

[690]

Thanks for the immediate 'heads up', Mr. NHV.

Reiterating, if there was still a Forum covering all railfanning at this site, that is where I would have placed this material. If a sworn Peace Officer, and I would presume the B&M Police are so empowered, to threaten arrest of municipal officials for what could be construed as doing their job, where would leave some railfan simply pursuing a hobby?

The article likely was considered by The Times as investigative reporting, which, Rush Limbaugh aside, is likely the best out there.

As far as I'm aware, she was asked to voluntarily leave the property first, and only because she was walking on the tracks. As for a railfan, as long as you're not trespassing, I'd be incredibly surprised if the railroad police bothered you.

[TPR37777]

Easy there. A railroad manager threatened the arrest and called the police. She was never at risk of being arrested, nor would Westford PD ever consider doing so. Anyone can threaten anything, that doesn't mean that there was a chance in hell it was ever going to happen. People get all balled up over this "federal regulation" garbage. The fire chief, who was standing next to her, had all the right in the world to be there inspecting the derailed hazmat cars. Had one of them rolled over onto a switch stand during the re-railing that Pan Am manager would have been screaming for the Westford Fire Department as he ran the other way. Pan Am all but eliminated their "police department" several years ago, and the few who remain would have been powerless to do anything about the situation here. She was upset, and rightfully so, over the mere statement of the manager. Private police entities, like the railroads and the Pinkerton Detective Agency for that matter, are dinosaurs. Even if a Pan Am officer were to make an arrest, there would be no where for him or her to transport the prisoner. Do you think Westford PD would let them in? The State Police Concord barracks would have told them to pound sand. A trip directly to court? And what would the police report be written on, a napkin? Pan Am would have paid out millions in a civil suit.

[BandA]

It's all about the attitude. Since I wasn't there, I can't tell you who was being reasonable and who was not, what words were exchanged. Did the town manager identify herself? Who were polite and who were screaming? I think in this particular case there was a derailed car, or some other part of the train, on the bridge over a public road, which makes it a public issue. Panam needs to make sure they have a policy on how to handle this stuff & that it is followed.

[CRail]

Railroad is private property and town officials have no more of a right to walk about it than they do to peruse through your back yard. The way the story is reported, it seems as though they were sneaking about without the railroad's permission. Therefor trespassing is a legitimate accusation and is against the law regardless of what agency presses the charges. Yes, the charges would likely be tossed immediately, but an arrest would not be out of order since they were breaking the law.

All of this, of course, is speculation based on how the news report is inferred. They often conveniently leave out minute details which change everything.

[Adirondacker]

but an arrest would not be out of order since they were breaking the law.

They weren't breaking the law. Public safety employees have wide latitude about where they can go when they are on official business. For instance if there is smoke pouring out of your house the fire department can do whatever they think is necessary without your permission. Or the truck running off the road example earlier.

[Trinnau]

A fireman or police officer acting in the course of duty to an imminent threat to public safety is different than a town manager in office attire walking down the tracks in heavy snow to find out "what's going on."

[frrc]

Doesn't MA have a "railroad trespassing" law ?

J

[Noel Weaver]

Police Officers and Fire Fighters, YES; Public Officials NO. They were trespassing in this case. I am taking the side of the raillroad here. Some of these "two bit" officials think they are "GOD", they are NOT.
Noel Weaver

[TPR37777]

A fireman or police officer acting in the course of duty to an imminent threat to public safety is different than a town manager in office attire walking down the tracks in heavy snow to find out "what's going on."

Police Officers and Fire Fighters, YES; Public Officials NO. They were trespassing in this case. I am taking the side of the raillroad here. Some of these "two bit" officials think they are "GOD", they are NOT.
Noel Weaver

It still puzzles me why railroaders are so threatened by local and state officials. Did you really call the town manager "two bit"? What does that, exactly, make a mid level manager of Pan Am Railways? .00000000000001 bits? Was that particular manager in charge of the airline before, or the failed condo complex in Cambridge? Or maybe the luggage line? The fire chief had authority to be there, end of story. As I mentioned before, he is a capable man. He chose to accompany the town manager. Maybe she makes the final call on evacuations, or maybe he just wanted someone to witness the outrageous arrogance of a simpleton. Either way the "two bit" manager won in the end, didn't she? The story went national, and the FRA was called on the carpet. We can both agree that Secretary Foxx probably would not have returned Jodi Ross' call, but you better believe he returned Senator Warren's call. Either way, Happy Easter to you all and be safe.

[MEC407]

Moderator Note:

There's a lot more to this story than what was written in the NY Times article. For further discussion of the Westford incident, please visit the existing thread in the Pan Am forum. If you want to discuss railroad trespassing issues in general, please continue to do that here.

[NHV 669]

to add to the mod note for making this a general RR laws thread: I have railfanned the SLR 1-2 times a week exluding a few weeks since early march, my very first time doing so along those tracks. I have been approached twice by the same PD, just sitting near the tracks, not touching RR property. RR cops aren't the only guys watching

[deathtopumpkins]

If a sworn Peace Officer, and I would presume the B&M Police are so empowered, to threaten arrest of municipal officials for what could be construed as doing their job, where would leave some railfan simply pursuing a hobby?

Well if said railfan were walking down the railroad tracks, I for one would expect railroad employees to threaten to call the police if he did not vacate the property. I think most railfans know better than to walk down active railroad tracks in the presence of railroad employees though. Most hopefully know to stick to public property if railfanning.

The town manager was not threatened with arrest for being at the scene, she was threatened with arrest for being on railroad property and not leaving when asked to. She was not a public safety official, she was a municipal employee, and thus a private citizen, just like railfans are. Now if she had checked in with the railroad and asked to see the scene, they may well have let her. I randomly encountered a similar minor derailment on CSX a few years back which blocked a grade crossing, and out of curiosity I stopped and talked to the cop who was blocking the road and a couple railroad employees who cheerfully told me I could go take a look as long as I stayed away from the tracks. If I'd just charged right on up there though they probably would have asked me to leave and threatened to arrest me if I had not.