Passenger Trains > Feds on the CA Zephyr

Yesterday morning Amtrak #5, the California Zephyr arrived in Reno on time.  A couple of minutes after the train stopped a man entered our sleeper and stopped at the room across the hall from mine.  The man identified himself as a federal agent and showed his identification.  He asked the passenger, a gentleman in his 60s, to see his ID and ticket.  The passenger provided both items and the agent then asked a few questions about why he took the train, purpose of the trip.  He then asked to search the man's luggage, but the passenger said no.  That was okay.  The agent asked if his partner with a drug sniffing dog could check the luggage and the passenger gave the okay.  At this point, I went downstairs to step off the train for a bit.  At the vestibule I passed an agent with the dog, a coker spaniel, as they headed upstairs.  Apparently the dog found nothing as he and his handler were soon off the train.

​Just a thought, marijuana is legal in some states, but not on Amtrak which is federally run.  This might be one item the cops were searching for.

​A couple of train photos attached.  Both taken in Emeryville.  That is the Puget Sound dome on the rear.

Gerry

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If federal agents were going to that much effort, they were looking for more than a little personal use marijuana.  

They were most likely looking for coke which is why they had a coker spaniel...

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

rrrrrrrrrrrr

The Reno 911 Goon Squad has been hassling Amtrak pax for years now with no end in sight. Based on profiling as lazy as "single male in sleeper," Reno 911 shakes down law abiding passengers on a near daily basis. Do they sometimes make busts? Yes they do, occasionally, at the expense of heavy-handedly rousting everyone else they lazily "interdict." The ends don't justify the means. Period.

Glad to hear he stood his ground and denied the baggage search. Good on him. I've been accosted several times, both on 5 and 6, but have learned how to dismiss them quickly. Ask what their basis is for RAS (reasonable articulable suspicion). They won't have one for a law abiding citizen. And as such, you inform them that with no RAS, they cannot detain you, and therefore the conversation is strictly voluntary. And with that, you tell them the conversation is over and that they can show themselves out. By the time you ask for their RAS, you will see them deflate as they know they're being called out on their BS shakedown. Amazing what some good legal advice can accomplish...
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/17/18 21:05 by ColdRainAndSnow.

Nothing new. Best druggies stay off trains.

Posted from Android

This passage puts the idiocy of it all into perspective:

Amtrak employees are instructed to report conduct "indicative of criminal activity" to law enforcement. Among them:
Unusual nervousness of traveler
Unusual calmness or straight ahead stare
Looking around while making telephone call(s)
Position among passengers disembarking (ahead of, or lagging behind passengers)
Carrying little or no luggage
Purchase of tickets in cash
Purchase tickets immediately prior to boarding

So to avoid getting hassled by the state, don’t act nervous, but don’t act too calm either. Don’t stare straight ahead unless you’re on the telephone, in which case don’t look around. And disembark right amidst all the other passengers with lots of luggage.

See https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/05/how-the-dea-harasses-amtrak-passengers/393230 among many other write-ups covering these abuses.

ColdRainAndSnow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This passage puts the idiocy of it all into
> perspective:
>
> Amtrak employees are instructed to report conduct
> "indicative of criminal activity" to law
> enforcement. Among them:
> Unusual nervousness of traveler
> Unusual calmness or straight ahead stare
> Looking around while making telephone call(s)
> Position among passengers disembarking (ahead of,
> or lagging behind passengers)
> Carrying little or no luggage
> Purchase of tickets in cash
> Purchase tickets immediately prior to boarding
>
I took a trip to RENO a few years ago to return on a private car--the CZ cars, a real treat!  And I:

--traveled light with no luggage
--paid for tickets with cash
--bought them right before boarding
--stared out the window, calmly enjoying the scenery
--was the first off the train to go see downtown Reno and the casinos!

And all that with no drugs, because I don't do drugs.  But I fit their profile.

I would suspect that drug dealers would take I-80 as it is soooo much quicker than Amtrak.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

I was hassled by the "Reno 911" goon squad a few decades ago while riding #4 from the only hole above ground (LA) to Chicago. During the stop at ABQ, the same thing happened to me. Asked to show ID and then asked to search luggage. I absolutely refused to comply with proving my innocence and they surprisingly went on their way to shakedown other passengers in my sleeping car.

I was royally pissed off with this and it was probably around Dodge City when I was able to let it go.

Twenty years ago on train 4, they targeted someone at ABQ, who was reported up the line, and that person was removed the next morning at KC, which also had drug-sniffer dogs. 

I was standing in the vestibule chatting with a cop with the black lab. He started sniffing my hand, which had remnants of a sugary Danish. Evidently dogs behave in a certain way when they disocover drugs. I thought perhaps the dog's interest in me would get me in trouble.  

 

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Twenty years ago on train 4, they targeted someone
> at ABQ, who was reported up the line, and that
> person was removed the next morning at KC, which
> also had drug-sniffer dogs. 
>
> I was standing in the vestibule chatting with a
> cop with the black lab. He started sniffing my
> hand, which had remnants of a sugary Danish.
> Evidently dogs behave in a certain way when they
> disocover drugs. I thought perhaps the dog's
> interest in me would get me in trouble.  
>
>  

The dogs are trained to give some form of an "alert signal" to clearly define
when they've detected whatever contraband they're trained for.

> The dogs are trained to give some form of an
> "alert signal" to clearly define
> when they've detected whatever contraband they're
> trained for.

Drug dogs usually scratch at a package or bag they alert on, some will sit. Bomb dogs will always sit for obvious reasons.

Wonder if Amtrak gets a cut from Reno's PD to allow it and stay silent. 
Wonder if they could restore the stop in Sparks and shut down Reno to evade their jurisdiction ? 

If you feel they acted inappropriately or illegally, file a complaint, they have supervisors and internal affairs that review such things. If you don’t like the law they are enforcing or the manner in which it is enforced, lobby your politicians to change it.

But to come on a public forum and call them Goons or Gestapo only shows what a pleasure it must have been to deal with you in person.

They are obviously following orders or they wouldn’t step foot on an Amtrak train. So grow up and deal with the way it should be addressed, not by childish name-calling.

All done - back to trains.

Posted from iPhone

One trip on the CZ and Amtrak police officer rode end to end. Nice to have that added security.

Posted from Android

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wonder if Amtrak gets a cut from Reno's PD to
> allow it and stay silent.

SNIP

There was some discussion here a few years ago about that.

TSA is known to have access to Amtrak's manifests, and the instructions for "persons of interest" could clearly be of value to a conductor or staff member.  The observation that the police boarded and went straight to a particular room suggests they had a specific person in mind.

(I wish ATF would be as energetic in its interdiction of the iron pipeline of weapons moving from Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas to NJ NY and New England.  Lots of brand new, in the box artillery moving up I-95 every day.  No such luck on that.)

A number of years ago I was on the Texas Eagle and two guys that came along on the bus from the south bought tickets to St. Louis at the station in San Antonio. At Fort Worth some agents in plain clothes got on and searched their luggage. I remember seeing one shaking out a Superman pillow. They lined them up, placed the cuffs on and hauled them away.

Posted from Android

CZ10 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Twenty years ago on train 4, they targeted
> someone
> > at ABQ, who was reported up the line, and that
> > person was removed the next morning at KC,
> which
> > also had drug-sniffer dogs. 
> >
> > I was standing in the vestibule chatting with a
> > cop with the black lab. He started sniffing my
> > hand, which had remnants of a sugary Danish.
> > Evidently dogs behave in a certain way when
> they
> > disocover drugs. I thought perhaps the dog's
> > interest in me would get me in trouble.  
> >
> >  
>
> The dogs are trained to give some form of an
> "alert signal" to clearly define
> when they've detected whatever contraband they're
> trained for.

Maybe the doggie just had a weakness for Danish.

First let me say I live outside of Atlanta and have a short vacation window. Since I love to travel by Amtrak in a sleeper I try to make the most of my time. A few years I took the Texas Eagle from LA to Chicago then took the Southwest Chief back to LA the next day after arriving in Chicago. I had just boarded my sleeper on the Chief when 2 Amtrak police agents stopped by my sleeper for a short conversation. They asked why did I stay only 1 night in Chicago and where did I start my trip from. After explaining Atlanta Georgia and flew to LA just ride the train they asked if they could search by bags and with nothing to hide I said yes. They asked about my scanners and again told them I just love riding Amtrak. After a rew minuets they where on their way. I guess I threw up some red flags.
Oh well I still enjoyed my trip.
Robert in Lawrenceville Georgia.