MTA arrests bogus rail employee

[mwichten]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyo ... -headlines

I have tried to stay out of all the posts about how the photoban, and the posts before them about the police asking railfans to move on, but this is the reason why. If it is this easy for this looney toon to get all of the paraphenalia and equipment required to fit in as an employee, think about how easy would it be for it to fall into the wrong hands.

This is also an example of why licensing or endorsing railfans will never happen, look at how easy it was for this clown to act like an employee. Just like the demographics of any other group: sports fans, hunters, cops, firemen, teachers, and clergy, there are good railfans and bad ones.

Please, just keep in mind that everyone in public safety is already burdoned with heightened alert on top of their normal jobs. You have all been railfans for a long time and will probably for a long time in the future. The minor inconvenience of not taking pictures if asked to by a police officer is well worth knowing that they are doing their jobs and that our transportation system is safe. There will always be tomorrow to go back out and take more photos.

All this talk of violation of civil liberties and mocking the patriot act in this forum and the NYA forum is a great chuckle. It is our own freedoms that allowed 9/11 to happen. And if we continue thinking like this, it will only continue to happen. Some sacrafices must be made in the interest of infrastructure security in the homeland. And moving on when being asked is only a minor inconvenience.

And I would be pretty sure that if Joe Schmo is taking pictures of his friends in the subway that the MTA police aren't going to lock him up. And I would like to think that if you or I are not trespassing or interfering with the safe operation of the railroad that we would not be asked to leave.

But if we were asked to leave, the trains will be there tomorrow. There will be plenty of other opportunities to take pictures without causing alarm to the public, and making someone else's job miserable.

Railfans and terrorists have the same profile to the police. Both loiter around in areas where there is easy access to do a lot of damage. Both would have a vast knowlege of the railroad and the operations. Just like the baggage screeners who let the terrorists thorugh with the carton cutters, and the people who taught them to fly around but not take off and land, could you imagine being the cop that dismissed the loiterer as a railfan when the loiterer was someone out to do harm?

I am not saying that my view is perfect, but it is my opinion. Just something to think of when someone who is just doing their job approaches you, the person who appears to be loitering around the rail facilities.

You all can reply in the positive and in the negative .. ... .

[jayrmli]

I think your view is right on the money!

Jay

[de402]

This poor guy, has been a nuisance to NYCTA for years. He really has a problem that probably won't be cured anytime soon. His story is quite unique, and was covered in the Times a few years ago. Even so the photo ban is moronic.

[RRChef]

I too have avoided getting involved in these particular discussions because I feel there is no right OR wrong side. Everyone has presented valid reasons for their opinions. But this certainly drives home the point for banning railfans, doesn't it?

[DogBert]

That guy isn't a rail fan, he's a nutcase who's been a problem for years.

I really don't see what banning photography has to do wtih the MTA's apparently laxed security and the failure of the system to either treat or keep that guy off the street.

Anyone that wants to give up rights for security will only end up with neither.

[jayrmli]

A few years ago, nobody thought anything was strange when people applied to flight training schools, wanting to learn how to fly a 747 with no references from any commercial airline, and they told the instructors they don't need to learn how to take off or land, just how to fly the plane.

Those flight training schools have had to answer a lot of questions since 9/11, and how they could be so reckless and naive.

Mark my words, and God forbid this happens, but if there is a terrorist attack against the railroads in this area, the public led by the media will be asking why more couldn't have been done. I'm sure the terrorists will have left behind plans of their attack, which will include pictures, diagrams, etc. It's a sad fact, but it's true.

I've said before that I personally don't think the photo ban will do anything to prevent a terrorist attack. I do think it is more an attempt to curb trespassing on the right of way (which they've been trying to do for years) and to calm passengers who don't understand why that guy is standing on the platform taking pictures of them and the trains.

Jay

[mwichten]

Jay,

Thanks for your support on this post. I agree with you that it probably will not prevent a terrorist attack, because no one single thing will. The announcement of the photoban was a measure to show that the government is doing something.

All laws are not enforced to the letter of the law, otherwise nobody would have a driver's license - because we all speed. This law was created so that charges could be brought upon someone when nothing else will stick, or when many smaller charges are substituted for the lack of one big charge.

[Vector]

A few years ago, nobody thought anything was strange when people applied to flight training schools, wanting to learn how to fly a 747 with no references from any commercial airline, and they told the instructors they don't need to learn how to take off or land, just how to fly the plane.

Those flight training schools have had to answer a lot of questions since 9/11, and how they could be so reckless and naive.

Jay, the majority of those flight schools had contacted their local police and FBI field offices. They passed along names and info that they found suspicious, the FBI sat on it... The lead hijacker (Atta sp?) even went to Northwest Airlines training facility and inquired about purchasing block training time in a 757 sim, the center found him suspicious and contacted their FBI field office. There was a female FBI whistleblower (I can't think of her name at the moment) who testified before congress about how the FBI sat on this info.

I don't want to sound like I am taking away from your points, you give a real world view of what things are like now. The fact is that people in these indistries know when something is not right, its just sad that when the info is passed up the chain it gets lost.

Jay, I would bet any dollar amount that you can spot the difference between a real railfan and trouble maker any day of the week.

[BMT]

Sure looks like this Darius McCullum was planning on movin' on up in traction power: no more subway trains for him -- he was looking to run an M-7!

[Lupo 10]

There was another article on this guy in today's New York Times Metro Section. They say he suffers from Asperger's syndrome. When describing the syndrome the times said......

"Obsession with trains and train trivia is common among sufferers of Asperger's."

Great! Now people are going to start thinking we all have an unhealthy obsession. Aye! I liked it much better when railroading was not front page news.

[RailBus63]

I don't have time at the moment to get into the debate about personal liberties and how we are systematically being deprived of these. What this case does show is that the MTA and its agencies are wasting valuable resources by harrassing rail buffs. While some MTA agencies are busy trying to chase photographers off the system, a guy with a history of impersonating transit employees is able to obtain a vest, hard hat and train keys, and was able to gain access to an MTA railroad yard. The MTA and its agencies should be embarrassed - they knew who this guy was, and they still couldn't keep him off the property. There are some serious flaws in their security system - railfans with cameras should be the least of their concerns.

Jim D.

[DogBert]

I just don't get how he got into the yard in the first place. Should there not be a security booth there that checks IDs of anyone coming in? Fencing, etc?

Being along the ROW is understandable - there's not an easy way to secure hundreds of miles of track, but this is a yard - a major one at that - and anyone with a hardhat and a vest can just walk on in before eventually maybe running into someone that'll ask them for ID?

I guess it's too hot out for those paid security guys to get out of their cars or booths to ask questions.

[Robert Paniagua]

Sure looks like this Darius McCullum was planning on movin' on up in traction power: no more subway trains for him -- he was looking to run an M-7!

Yeap, most likely he wanted to "try out the new beats". Since they have advanced on-board diagnostics too.

But they should start asking for ID from now on in light of this latest incident. Also, IIRC there was a 17-year old kid back in 1993 who posed as a motorman on the "A" train and actually drove an A train from Lefferts Blvd till about 175th Street when an inspector saw him speeding up the track and noticed the operator to be "too young looking", and was arrested right then and there. I remember seeing an article about it afterwards.

[walt]

While I disagree vehemently with the photo bans that are becoming an increasing part of the response of our government to the post 9/11 situation, I believe that they were inevitable. We really don't have a clue how to deal with the current terrorist threats, real or imagined, and these bans fall into the category of "do something----- do anything". Hopefully, this too will pass. As for the individual who was arrested, he is in a category which is almost impossible for the criminal justice system to deal with. It is extremely difficult to involuntarily commit an individual to a mental treatment facility no matter how badly he may need the treatment. If he doesn't raise a defense of not criminally responsible in a situation where he is charged with a crime as a result of his activities, and the court doesn't find that he is not competent to stand trial ( or to enter into any plea arrangement which may be offered) the issue of his mental situation won't come up. The most that will happen will be incarceration for a period of time, which will not deal with his problem, and will merely put off into the future the inevitable next occurance of his interference with the operations of the transportation system.

[bluebelly]

Also, IIRC ther was a 17-year old kid back in 1993 who posed as a motorman on the "A" train and actually drove an A train from Lefferts Blvd till about 175th Street when an inspector saw him speeding up the track and noticed the operator to be "too young looking", and was arrested right then and there. I remember seeing an article about it afterwards.

That was the same guy, he has a hsitory of this. The above was the first known incident, he apparently has stolen a bus or two, and now was looking to steal an M7