Legal challenge to NY random searches launched

Civil rights campaigners sued New York City today in an attempt to stop random bag searches.

The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) challenged the legality of the policy, implemented on underground stations in the wake of the second wave of explosions in London.

It is seeking an injunction to halt the searches on the basis that they are conducted without any suspicion of wrongdoing.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the NYCLU, said they violated the constitutional rights of millions of train passengers.

“This NYPD (New York Police Department) bag search policy is unprecedented, unlawful and ineffective,” she said.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan District Court, contends that the policy is unlikely to catch anyone carrying explosives or deter such an effort.

It also claims certain passengers have been singled out in a “discriminatory and arbitrary” manner which could lead to racial profiling.

The suit was filed on behalf of five people, including two who had their bags searches, one who refused, one who stopped using a station to avoid being searched and another who described himself as a political activist who is worried about being harassed if police notice the political material he carries.

The New York Police Department claims the policy is legal and has proved effective.

Detailed guidelines were drawn up to allay civil rights and privacy fears, instructing officers to search people in numerical order rather than basing them on personal appearance.

A small group of local politicians has called on police not to waste their time conducting random searches but to focus on those who fit the terrorist profile, namely young Arab men.