- State troopers have launched an aggressive campaign to
boost security on Washington State Ferries by randomly searching vehicles
while their owners wait to board.
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- The searches are ostensibly voluntary, but motorists
who refuse can be denied passage by the captain of the boat.
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- State Patrol and ferry service officials said the heightened
security reflects an increase in funding for inspections, rather than a
response to a specific threat.
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- "It comes down to providing protection for our citizens,"
Washington State Patrol Capt. Glenn Cramer said yesterday.
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- But officials of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Washington immediately expressed outrage at the searches.
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- "It's a big, big problem," said ACLU attorney
Jerry Sheehan. "This is an unconstitutional activity on the part of
Washington state employees."
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- Sheehan said his group, which learned of the searches
after being contacted by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, will discuss the
issue with the state Attorney General's Office and the State Patrol.
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- "In the state of Washington, you have a right not
to be searched by the government unless the government believes that you
are intending to do wrong," he said. "We simply do not allow
the government to conduct fishing expeditions."
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- Troopers concentrated efforts at the Southworth ferry
landing, west of Vashon Island, earlier in the week, ferry system spokeswoman
Susan Harris said.
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- Yesterday, clipboard-toting troopers were at the Winslow
terminal on Bainbridge Island for the morning commute. They checked every
15th vehicle, asking drivers if they had any explosives or weapons in the
car. Drivers were asked to produce identification and a vehicle registration,
and then to open the trunk and all other storage areas. License numbers
and other information was noted on a form.
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- The State Patrol is not saying when or where troopers
will conducting the random searches.
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- "If a practice becomes predictable, it can be overcome,"
Cramer said.
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- Troopers patrolled ferries and inspected some vehicles
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but did not conduct random searches.
The security measures were dropped some months later because of budget
constraints.
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- Cramer said the new level of scrutiny was made possible
by a $1.8 million budget increase approved by lawmakers earlier this year.
The random inspections follow a recommendation of the Washington State
Ferries Security Committee, Cramer said. The committee comprises representatives
from the State Patrol, the Coast Guard and state ferry system employees.
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- In addition to making the preboarding inspections, troopers
will be more visible riding aboard ferries, Cramer said.
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- "The consensus was that we needed an increased presence
on the vessels and the terminals," he said.
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- While the inspections are voluntary, the troopers still
have leverage over motorists. Motorists who decline are reported to the
ferry captain, who has the authority to stop them from boarding.
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- Yesterday, ferry Capt. Tim Koivu did just that when a
man in line for the 7:50 a.m. sailing of the Wenatchee declined to let
troopers look through his car at the Winslow dock.
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- "I think if I was sitting next to a guy in a car
that wouldn't let the police officer search it, I'd be concerned what he's
hiding in there," Koivu said later. "Our main concerns are just
the safety of the passengers, the vessel itself and all the crew members.
We have close to 2,000 passengers on here."
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- Koivu said he once before declined to take on a passenger
who refused to be searched -- it was just after the Sept. 11 attacks.
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- "We do a lot of things differently than we did prior
to Sept. 11," he said.
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- Some of those measures, he acknowledged, can be inconvenient
to passengers, "But everybody's understanding that it's for the good
of all concerned," he said.
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- State Patrol officials said the Attorney General's Office
has issued an opinion saying that the searches are legal, which Sheehan
said he has not yet seen.
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- Sheehan said the ACLU hopes to reach people who have
been searched, or who have refused to be searched, adding that the fact
that a refusal could result in a missed ferry ride makes it hardly voluntary.
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- "You have the right not to be searched as long as
you don't want to travel freely in the state of Washington any longer,"
he said. "That's not voluntary."
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- But Cramer said extraordinary times call for unusual
measures.
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- "This is a special-needs time," he said, adding
that the searches "will continue as long as we're in this state of
heightened awareness."
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- Cramer said the ferry searches are part of an overall
increase in vigilance rather than a response to a specific threat, such
as the recent effort by FBI agents who contacted owners of scuba diving
shops in the region. The agents asking about people who might have inquired
about underwater pilot or demolition training.
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- In late May, FBI national headquarters issued a warning
that "recent information has determined that various terrorist elements
have sought to develop scuba diver capability. There is a body of information
showing the desire to obtain such capability."
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- Seattle-based FBI spokesman Ray Lauer said agents have
so far contacted about 50 diving shops around the state. He declined to
say what exactly agents were asking, or whether they had found any valuable
leads.
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- The owner of one Seattle-area store said two agents stopped
by her shop last Friday, asking for a list of everyone who took classes
there during the last three years.
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- The agents also "wanted to know if anyone had been
in to make large purchases of gear who had no knowledge of the gear whatsoever,"
said Dawn Ulrich, manager of the Lighthouse Diving Center in North Seattle.
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- Ulrich said the agents were particularly curious about
anyone who may have paid for such gear with cash.
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- Having to consider these types of things about her potential
scuba customers or students felt odd, Ulrich said. Before Sept. 11, she
said, "we never really gave it much thought."
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