The ACLU is filing suit against NYC's random subway searches.
The lawsuit, to be filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan, contends that the searches are "virtually certain neither to catch any person trying to carry explosives into the subway nor to deter such an effort." It also says that many riders have been selected in a "discriminatory and arbitrary" manner, creating the potential for racial profiling.
Paul J. Browne, the Police Department's chief spokesman, said the searches, which began on the evening of July 21, were both effective and legal. Under the search policy, officers are to use an essentially random criterion - stopping every 5th, 12th or 20th passenger carrying a bag or package. Selecting riders on the basis of race or national origin is prohibited.
Even so, at a news conference, five members of the City Council asked the Police Department yesterday to begin collecting information about the race and ethnicity of riders who are searched so that officials can demonstrate that riders are not being selected because of their backgrounds. Mr. Browne said the department had no plans to collect or record such information.
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