The Houston Chronicle
Viewpoints, Outlook
May 17, 2008, 10:43AM LETTERS
Dressing down Metro police
On May 9, I exited the Metro train at the TMC Transit Center station and a man called out to me asking me to stop. I looked at him, saw that he was dressed in a University of Houston jersey, and thought he was trying to hand out information or advertise something. I turned away from him to continue down the platform so I could go to work. He ran up to me before I reached the end of the platform, screamed at me and grabbed my arm. It was only at this time that I recognized him as a plain-clothed Metro police officer.
The only form of identification he had was a badge hanging on his neck that previously was not visible because of the crowd. Even when he identified himself, he shoved me toward the center of the platform where his partner in harassment, dressed in a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey, verbally berated me as well. This rude behavior from an officer in plain clothes is needless to verify that I, a 34-year-old man in professional dress, paid a dollar to ride the train.
This whole incident could have been avoided if the men were in uniform and clearly identified as Metro police.
CHRISTOPHER DONOHOE Tomball
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Monday, May 19, 2008
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2 comments:
Where to start? The fact that they have us doing fare checks in plain clothes or the whole "CCBI" blitz thing? Being in plain clothes while working the rail is, IMHO, a good idea. Being in plain clothes while conducting fare checks is not. Those of us working the bus marshal O/T or those who are in BARC know that when you're blending in, you are privy to a lot more questionable behavior than when you're wearing the 'ol dinner plate on the chest. But being in plain clothes checking fares is a goofy idea. To be honest, the idea of us checking fares in the first place is a goofy idea, but I digress...
Fare checks need to be conducted by uniformed personnel. In this case, the the officers were "blending" by wearing sports jerseys, and approached a "34-year-old man in professional dress." My guess is he probably got the fuzz scared out of him seeing these shady looking characters asking if he had a ticket. This whole situation could have been avoided if the officers were in uniform. People see a Metro uniform and know what to expect. You see some big burly dude sportin' some jeans and a t-shirt asking for your Q-card, you might think twice.
I ride the train alot. There is always someone trying to scam. How do we know that the badges are real and the cops are for real and not a nut case?
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