Chicago police have checked 2,600-plus bags and packages, made one arrest and found zero explosives in the four months since they launched a random screening program at CTA train stations to check for riders who might be trying to carry out a terrorist attack.
The single arrest came in January when, police say, a man refused to have his bag checked and then tried to enter the turnstiles at a Brown Line stop, police spokesman Marty Maloney said.
On Nov. 3, police began random bag checks at busy CTA stations during morning and evening rush hours. The program, which is paid for through a federal grant from the Transportation Security Administration, has no end date, Maloney said. In that time, police checked more than 2,600 bags and packages at 40-plus CTA stations.
“The primary purpose of this program is deterrence, with the secondary goal being to detect the presence of explosives,” Maloney said in an email. Maloney did not know the cost of the program.
CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said the transit agency has not received any complaints from riders about the bag check program.
Bag checks are set up outside the turnstiles. Screening dates and times aren’t disclosed, but signs inform riders of the checks as they enter the stations.
Police say they approach riders randomly before they enter the turnstiles to check their bags. An officer rubs a cloth on the outside of the bag or package and then enters the cloth in a machine to see if there are explosives in the bag. The entire process is supposed to take less than a minute.
Riders can say no to the bag checks but then they must leave the station. If they try to enter the turnstiles, they face arrest, police said.
The one arrest police made was Jan. 22 at the Merchandise Mart Brown Line stop, according to police. Scott Davis, 43, of Lakeview, was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass to state land.
After Davis refused to submit to the bag check, he tried to enter the turnstiles, according to police. Officers advised him multiple times that if he proceeded he would be arrested, Maloney said.
Davis appeared in court Thursday, and his attorney said prosecutors have agreed to drop charges if he meets certain conditions.
After his court appearance, Davis framed his refusal to submit to the screening as a matter of principle.
“I think that the policy is wrong; I think it’s wrong to randomly check bags,” he told RedEye. “It violated my Fourth Amendment rights.”
