For First Time, MBTA Police Conduct Random Bag Searches at Harvard T Station

Travelers at the Harvard Square T station faced minor delays yesterday as Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority police performed random security testing of passengers’ bags.

This is the first time checks have occurred at the Harvard Square T station, though they have been occurring elsewhere at random throughout the T system, according to Lt. Salvatore Venturelli, the commander of the MBTA district that serves the Harvard station.

Security screenings on the T took place for a short time in 2004 to address possible security threats to the Democratic National Convention.

Though the program met with opposition from civil rights advocates, it was reinstated in October 2006 by then-Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney in an attempt to deter terrorist acts.

The search process is non-invasive and random. Bags are not opened—the handles and zippers are swabbed with a special test strip which is then fed through an explosives detection machine, according to Venturelli.

Passengers are chosen for screening by a “random mathematical permutation” generated the morning of the checks to guard against accusations of racial, gender, or religious discrimination, Venturelli said.

Some passengers saw the screenings as a positive check against terrorism in the subway system.

“It’s great—there’s a huge potential liability with our subway system in the U.S.,” said Patricia Giometti, a passenger in the T station. “This serves as an extra deterrent.”

Others, however, saw the checks as excessive and ineffective.

“I think it’s the most ridiculous thing,” said Stephen Carpenter, laughing at the situation in the T station. “As if anyone with a bag with anything in it would walk through—you could just go to another station.”

—Staff writer Aditi Balakrisha can be reached at balakris@fas.harvard.edu.