The Rise of Spying Transit Police

By: |Published on: Sep 20, 2018|Categories: Surveillance, TSA|

Today’s public transit police departments offer a frightening glimpse into the future of commuter surveillance.

The feds, with the willing cooperation of state and local law enforcement, are building a giant surveillance network on the U.S. transportation system.

Last year the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) was accused of creating an app that spied on commutersย travel plans, texts and emails. At the same time, theย Los Angeles Metropolitanย Transportation Authority began a pilot program that usedย facial biometric body scannersย to spy on commuters.

Also in 2017, theย Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authorityย (SEPTA) unveiled their newย SEPTA Transit Watchย app that allows commuters to “discretely” spy on anyone. The app also sends commuters BOLOย orย “Be On the Look Out”ย alerts, essentiallyย turning commuters into Transit Police spies.

In New Jersey politicians considered cutting Transit Police Department funding fromย $88 million to $48 million. To find out what happened, scroll down to 2018.

In 2016, I warned commuters that the NJ Transit secretly installedย microphones and cameras to spy on commuters.ย Privacy advocates called it a “monumental invasion of privacy.”

The Reno Nevada Transit Police and the Maryland Transit Administrationย also useย microphones and surveillance camerasย to spy on commuters. (Clickย hereย to find out how Las Vegas buses spy on passengers in real-time.)

Inย 2015, I warned everyone that buses were being equipped with ten DHS surveillance cameras that can identify commutersย license plates and their faces.

Things have not gotten any better for commuters, in fact, they have gotten worse.

I am calling 2018: “The Rise of Spying Transit Police” because the facts are undeniable.

I have posted nine disturbing examples that will hopefully motivate commuters to take action before it’s too late.

  1. ) Theย Greater Richmond Transit Centerย begins installing bust stopย surveillance camerasย that spy on passengers 24/7.
  2. ) Public Transit Becomes Another Tool forย Total Government Surveillance.
  3. ) Public Transit Agencies want to makeย safety records a state secret
  4. ) The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police usesย full-body biometricย scannersย to watchlist commuters.
  5. ) BART secretlyย spied on commuters license platesย and sent the information to ICE.
  6. ) Despite public opposition, BART moves forward onย $20 million surveillance upgrades.
  7. ) The Chicago Transit Authorityย “one of the most comprehensive transit surveillance camera networks in the U.S.”recentlyย upgraded 32,000 surveillance cameras.
  8. ) MBTA Transit Policeย surveillance towers
  9. ) New Jersey wants to increaseย Transit Police funding to $242 million.

Americans used public transportationย 10.1 billion times last year. Which means that theย Border Patrol,ย Amtrak, and Transit Police spied on billions of commuters.

The rise of spying transit police should serve as a wake-up call to everyone. Don’t let DHS turn public transit into TSA style pat-downs and searches.

This article was originally published at MassPrivatel.

Tags: DHS, Fourth Amendment, Privacy, surveillance, Transportation, TSA

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