Last month I was in NY city for a few days on business. Since I live
in Connecticut, I am able to take the train into Penn Station. On
the way home, my train was delayed and I stayed in Penn Station for
a bit longer than I wanted to. It was...interesting, to say the
least.
Next to the train status boards, there were large-screen TVs showing
looped video of friendly security personnel admonishing you to 'see
something, say something', one particularly creepy video of a mother
and daughter happily having their bags searched at a
checkpoint. There were mock recreations of suspicious activity (men
taking photos of the undersides of trains) that resulted in arrests,
interviews with dog-handlers, Amtrak police, and homeland security
officials. In real life, there were bomb-sniffing dogs, armed
national guard troops, and police officers wandering the terminal
constantly. Then the loudspeaker - about every ten minutes,
in-between announcements about the trains, an announcement warning
us that we or our belongings could be searched at any time. And of
course, video cameras covering the entire terminal.
It was so over-the-top that I was for that short period of time,
more scared of the 'security' in place than I was of the minute
possibility of a terrorist attack. Is this what our country has
become? So terrified of the terrorist bogeyman that we happily live
in a big-brother state?
Now, I should add that neither I nor my bags were searched, nor was
I detained in any way (apart from my train being delayed). So this
was apparently for show, a 'presence' as it were. But as a former
member of the public-safety profession, for me to feel this way says
something remarkable.
