BigRedEO
Service Attendant
Just got back a little over a week ago from a round-trip, CLE to LAX and back.
I took the Texas Eagle out and the Southwest Chief back. Roomettes both ways. When boarding in Chicago, there was a mix-up in the room across from me. I rode out to the train with an elderly woman via the Redcap. She had a ticket for the room across from me. But when we got in the car, there was a black man, probably in his 30s, in the room. I recommended they ask the SCA to get the conductor, because I saw both their tickets and they both looked legit.
The gentleman ended up staying in the room and the lady was put in another Roomette.
The next morning in Longview, TX, I came up from the shower and was stopped at the top of the stairs by a guy in plainclothes who asked where I was going. Looked down the hall to see two other plainclothes guys frisking the guy across from me. I told him my Roomette number and was told I had to wait. After frisking the guy, they pretty much tossed his Roomette. When I was finally let back in, I looked out the window and saw a uniformed cop with a German Shepherd. The gentleman across from me said he was told they were "randomly" searching several rooms/people on the train. I looked out the window and said, "Well they're leaving now."
The man said, "You're kidding me? I'm the ONLY one they searched?"
He ran down to the lower door and I could actually hear him yelling, "Are you kidding me? You said you were randomly searching the train and I'm the ONLY one you search?? Is it because I'm a single black man in a First Class Car?" They ignored him and got in their cars.
The gentleman told me they knew his name, so Amtrak had to give the name to the guys doing the searching. He said they had the drug-sniffing dog go into his Roomette first before frisking him.
On the SWC on the way back, there was a young (probably in his 20s) Hispanic kid. Talked to him for a while, got his name, very well spoken, on his way to Kansas City, his first time on a train. I let him know a few things about the train and what to expect. We got into Albuquerque about an hour late. I ran into the station to use the ATM. Took some pics from the platform and my room, when another plainclothes guy stops outside my open door and says "Hey, how you doin'?" and knocks on the door of the Roomette across from me.
He identifies himself as a cop, knows the kid's first name, asks how he's doing and the kid answers back in his well-spoken English, but after a couple sentences, the cop stops him and asks, "Habla Espanol?" He then proceeded to speak only in Spanish to the kid, even when the kid would speak in English. Then another plainclothes (alleged) cop shows up and they end up frisking him and tossing his Roomette as well.
I found the whole thing very unsettling. It seemed pretty much that the cop purposely spoke Spanish hoping I wouldn't understand that this kid's rights were being violated.
So I have to ask, has this suddenly become standard procedure on Amtrak trains? And what rights do passengers have? Can they refuse having their room and their person searched? Having been on the platform before and seeing these guys enter the train, it was very obvious they only searched this kid's room. And once again they knew his name, so it seemed as if Amtrak had provided it to them. Would I be tossed off a train if I refused to have my person or room searched without a warrant? Or is there some implicit contract when purchasing a ticket?
Quite the interesting trip, including someone dying on the train overnight somewhere in Kansas and my getting rather sick from the fumes because there was no baggage car or employee sleeping car between the engine and our sleeper, but that's another story.
I took the Texas Eagle out and the Southwest Chief back. Roomettes both ways. When boarding in Chicago, there was a mix-up in the room across from me. I rode out to the train with an elderly woman via the Redcap. She had a ticket for the room across from me. But when we got in the car, there was a black man, probably in his 30s, in the room. I recommended they ask the SCA to get the conductor, because I saw both their tickets and they both looked legit.
The gentleman ended up staying in the room and the lady was put in another Roomette.
The next morning in Longview, TX, I came up from the shower and was stopped at the top of the stairs by a guy in plainclothes who asked where I was going. Looked down the hall to see two other plainclothes guys frisking the guy across from me. I told him my Roomette number and was told I had to wait. After frisking the guy, they pretty much tossed his Roomette. When I was finally let back in, I looked out the window and saw a uniformed cop with a German Shepherd. The gentleman across from me said he was told they were "randomly" searching several rooms/people on the train. I looked out the window and said, "Well they're leaving now."
The man said, "You're kidding me? I'm the ONLY one they searched?"
He ran down to the lower door and I could actually hear him yelling, "Are you kidding me? You said you were randomly searching the train and I'm the ONLY one you search?? Is it because I'm a single black man in a First Class Car?" They ignored him and got in their cars.
The gentleman told me they knew his name, so Amtrak had to give the name to the guys doing the searching. He said they had the drug-sniffing dog go into his Roomette first before frisking him.
On the SWC on the way back, there was a young (probably in his 20s) Hispanic kid. Talked to him for a while, got his name, very well spoken, on his way to Kansas City, his first time on a train. I let him know a few things about the train and what to expect. We got into Albuquerque about an hour late. I ran into the station to use the ATM. Took some pics from the platform and my room, when another plainclothes guy stops outside my open door and says "Hey, how you doin'?" and knocks on the door of the Roomette across from me.
He identifies himself as a cop, knows the kid's first name, asks how he's doing and the kid answers back in his well-spoken English, but after a couple sentences, the cop stops him and asks, "Habla Espanol?" He then proceeded to speak only in Spanish to the kid, even when the kid would speak in English. Then another plainclothes (alleged) cop shows up and they end up frisking him and tossing his Roomette as well.
I found the whole thing very unsettling. It seemed pretty much that the cop purposely spoke Spanish hoping I wouldn't understand that this kid's rights were being violated.
So I have to ask, has this suddenly become standard procedure on Amtrak trains? And what rights do passengers have? Can they refuse having their room and their person searched? Having been on the platform before and seeing these guys enter the train, it was very obvious they only searched this kid's room. And once again they knew his name, so it seemed as if Amtrak had provided it to them. Would I be tossed off a train if I refused to have my person or room searched without a warrant? Or is there some implicit contract when purchasing a ticket?
Quite the interesting trip, including someone dying on the train overnight somewhere in Kansas and my getting rather sick from the fumes because there was no baggage car or employee sleeping car between the engine and our sleeper, but that's another story.
