Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It turns out there are "See something, say something" posters plastered everywhere, including on all the stairways in the subway. So when I got out of the train at another station five minutes after seeing it, I called the 888-NYC-SAFE number and they gave me their email address where I could email the photo with the time and location.
I knew when I saw it that it was 99.99% chance that it was just someone's forgotten suitcase, but even a .01% chance that it's something dangerous was worth making the call.
Hope everyone else would do the same.
There's a precedent that the see something/say something campaign works. Someone called 911 to report a suspicious device on the street in Chelsea that ended up being a pressure cooker bomb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_N...ersey_bombings
In the months after 9/11 twice I ran across something like this.
The first time was in Penn Station where everyone waits and stares at the track boards. There was a briefcase sitting there with no one around it. I reported it to one of the booths and moved to another area. Don’t know what the end result was.
The second time I was in lower Manhattan somewhere on the weekend, entered an empty station to wait for the train. I walked down the platform to wait, and down near the end was a backpack sitting there against the wall. It made me nervous and I was thinking I should leave and call the number. While I was equivocating about what to do, I could see the train coming, so I anxiously waited for the train and got on. A few days later I read in the paper that this was actually some kind of “art”? stunt to see what people would do.
A school kid left his backpack on the bus the other day. I informed the bus driver of the backpack. He told be bring it up front. I said "Hell nope" I am not touching it.. This fool put the bus out of service to report the backpack left on the bus!! He confirmed it was probably a school kid, but he had to follow protocol and call the police for removal. I wondered if this would have gone differently if I had brought it to him. But in all, the driver was correct to take appropriate action.
Yup, call that See Something/Say Something number or 9/11.
Sometimes this is also LE testing to see if people will react, but don't count on that.
Just curious -- what do they do with that information? If people don't react, do they then spend more money and effort on their "see something, say something" campaigns?
Just curious -- what do they do with that information? If people don't react, do they then spend more money and effort on their "see something, say something" campaigns?
I am not sure. It was told to me as a sidebar conversation with a former FBI person working for a security consultant firm some years ago (but post-9/11).
I got the impression it was to assess behavior of the public, but I can imagine that what you said might be one outcome of the assessment.
No longer commuting to NYC for work. I now work in Fort Lee. I love my commute. NJ Transit bus for 2 stops to go to the gym or 1 stop to go to the office.
I head out at 4pm and do the carpool pick up and get dropped off on 178 Ft Washington Ave. I get reimburse for my NJ transit pass.
I hope to never return to NYC, Midtown to SoHo area, for work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
