Mr. Michael H. Mulhern
General Manager
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
10 Park Plaza
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Dear Mr. Mulhern:
Over the course of the past week, there have been numerous press reports concerning security measures that are being instituted by the MBTA at train and subway stations. While some of these measures may be required by Security Directives issued by the Department of Homeland Security, it is our understanding that the MBTA has, on its own initiative, instituted a program for the investigation or screening of individuals in subway and train stations.
According to the press reports and complaints that have been made available to our office, MBTA police officers have been authorized to stop individuals in MBTA stations or trains and to require them to produce identification and answer questions about their reasons for being in the station. And the threat implicit in these stops is that anyone who does not or cannot cooperate will be asked to leave or be arrested.
While we appreciate that measures such as the stops of MBTA passengers are prompted by concerns for public safety, the stops raise a number of troubling questions that are of substantial concern to the public and which we hope you will be able to answer.
First and foremost is the question of what criteria that are being used by the MBTA police to determine who will be stopped.
- Are the stops purely random? And if so, what regulations or guidelines has the MBTA put in place to insure that the persons stopped are not selectively or discriminatorily chosen?
- If the stops are not random, what is the basis for deciding who is stopped? According to the MBTA spokesman who was quoted in the Herald, the MBTA police are being trained by the State Police officers based on their experience at Logan International airport. MassPort has announced, however, that the State Police officers working at Logan have been trained to make stops based on what is described as ""behavioral profiling."" As MassPort and the State Police have declined to disclose the nature of the behavior which triggers a stop at the airport, we are left to speculate that the police are making stops where they have something less than a reasonable and articulable basis for suspecting the individual is engaged in an unlawful activity.
Second, what is being requested of individuals who are being stopped?
- Are they being required to produce identification and, if so, what type of identification is sufficient?
- Does one need to carry some form of photographic identification in order to ride on MBTA trains? And, if so, how will the police deal with people who do not have any identification?
- What other information will be required from someone who is stopped?
Finally, we are concerned about the potential consequences of failing to cooperate with the police.
- If an individual chooses not to cooperate, or does not provide suitable identification, or does not satisfy the officers that he is in the station for legitimate reasons, will he be removed from the property? Will he be arrested? If so, for what charges?
We are sure that there are answers to many of these questions. The problem, of course, is that they have not been disclosed to the public. The result has been widespread anxiety of the part of MBTA riders. We have received scores of calls and letters expressing concern and, in some cases, outrage about these practices.
In light of the substantial public interest in this issue, we are writing to request a meeting with you and the appropriate members of your staff to discuss our concerns. It would certainly help us if we were to have a better understanding of what is actually being done and why. We also believe that it would benefit the MBTA to learn why this is a matter of such concern to the ACLU.
We will call your office on Tuesday to schedule a mutually convenient time to meet.
Sincerely,
Carol Rose, Executive Director
John Reinstein, Legal Director
cc: Senator Jarrett T. Barrios
William A. Mitchell, Jr.
Joseph C. Carter