Beware, people of color and/or those with smelly and/or "suspicious-looking" backpacks on Boston's subway or commuter rail system! The managing agency MBTA is instituting a system of random bag searches which will escalate during the Dem convention in July:
You can read the henious article here.
The jist: T police will single out riders who fit a pattern of 'suspicious behavior'. If one of the bomb dogs happens to be with an officer, the dog will sniff your package (ha, double entendre!). If a dog is not present, the officer will no, not sniff the package, but conduct a cursory search. Here's a graf from teh article:
"Last month, T police announced that the entire force has been receiving counterterrorism training that includes spotting suspicious behavior. The ACLU and riders groups, fearful that the policy could lead to random ID checks, have contended that the stops represent an unwarranted intrusion. But T officials insist that the "behavior pattern recognition" training that all officers are receiving is geared toward security, and not to pestering riders.
Martino said the T Police Department is seeking to double the size of the dog unit to spread the baggage inspections across the vast transit system."
The ACLU is on the case, and if you're not a card-carrying member, sign up now.