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Transit Police are making traffic stops?
By Brett on Mon, 08/18/2008 - 10:58am
Since when are the MBTA Transit Police allowed to make traffic stops on Huntington Avenue? Spotted at ~10:10, between South Huntington and Mission Hill (nowhere near a bus stop or any other MBTA property, and no buses or trolleys in sight, either): male and female officers from one of the "wagon" Transit Police units, inspecting the license of a driver and speaking to her.
A little background on how complicated Chapter 90 authority can be.
Free tagging:
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Comments
Give it up
She cut off an E line train at a light.
She almost clipped a bus.
She passed a stopped trolley further up the road and it took a while for the MBTA police to arrive/call it in before pulling her over.
She was double-parked in a bus stop and ignored the cop's horn. After leaving the stop, the officer felt her actions were erratic and threw on the lights to get her to stop.
She was the Transit cop's sister and they were looking at baby photos.
The point is: You don't have any clue whether it was a valid stop or not based on what you've given us here. The MBTA Police website points out the legislation that gives them their mandate for full police powers within the territorial limits of the MBTA. If this was south of Brigham Circle where the E line goes to street car rather than it's platformed service, then the MBTA has *FULL* authority given to any other cop since the road is now within their territorial limits. I'm pretty sure most of Huntington Ave is within their territorial limits given the E Line and bus presence along the road. It could have been a driving offense or a drug stop if it was anywhere on MBTA property. You don't know.
Well.....
All of these actions and behaviours:
were completely and totally inexcusable and unacceptable, imo. Just because the woman was the Transit cop's sister didn't justify her dangerous behaviour.
lol
Ha!
I'm pretty sure ...
You can get a good used sarcasm meter cheap on eBay these days.
you may want to check the
you may want to check the batteries in yours....
I'm gonna be nice (for once)
And explain to Miki that I think Kaz was pointing those out as hypothetical reasons the cop might have stopped the driver. In other words, we don't know both sides of the story.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Transit Police MV Stops
The Transit Police have full Chapter 90 jurisdictional powers in 175 towns and cities across the Commonwealth of MA. Doesn't have to be near or by a train,bus, or MBTA property either. Motor vehicle stops are not their primary activity....but they have full authority to do so when need be. So, if you are pulled over by a Transit Officer, act accordingly and give them your license and registration or you are subject to arrest for failure to submit if you refuse to give them your license/registration while thinking they are not able to pull you over.
It does get complicated but
It does get complicated but the MBTA police are real police officers, and if the person was doing something that affected the MBTA then they had every right to pull them over. State Police have stopped people outside of the state highway system/state property, although this may be more prevelant outside of Boston proper? I also know that some college police officers have full jurisdiction in the areas immediatly outside of their campuses as well.
It would only be a story if it turned out the MBTA police pulled her over for making an illegal left turn on non mbta affected property or something.
Nowhere near a bus stop?
I can't think of any place on that short stretch of street that isn't near a bus or trolley stop.
outbound, right near south huntington
They were barely a block from South Huntington and Huntington, on the outbound side. That's a decent distance from the Mission Hill stop. And like I said- there were no trains or busses anywhere in sight. I had just come down South Huntington, and not passed any green line trains or the #39 bus from Heath Street onwards.
Only thing I could really think of was that they were double-parked, which given the trolley rids on the same tracks, I could see them doing some sort of enforcement for. That said, they'd only have to walk another 100 feet to ticket half a dozen cars that park illegally at the S Huntington bus stops because of the convenience stores...or the prolific double-parking that goes on right near Brigham Circle.
I posted in part to see if someone knew for sure if Huntington ave is part of their 'territory' and whether or not they're allowed to do Ch 90 stops.
Unfortunately, seems like nobody actually knows for sure...
They are real cops... Let me
They are real cops...
Let me ask you this, if you saw someone being mugged on that same piece of land and an MBTA transit police officer just drove by and didnt stop to help because it wasnt his jurisdiction would you be writing a post about how MBTA police officers are real police officers and they should be out enforcing laws regardless of where their official jurisdcition is? It makes us all safer to know that in case of an emergency a college police officer or an MBTA cop is able to enforce the law, which after all is their job.
Fishing
they'd only have to walk another 100 feet to ticket half a dozen cars that park illegally at the S Huntington bus stops because of the convenience stores...or the prolific double-parking that goes on right near Brigham Circle
Reminds me of a (sorta) joke I heard once:
A cop stopped a guy for speeding on the highway one Saturday morning. The guy is incredulous since he felt he was only going the same speed as everyone else on the road.
"Look at all those other cars passing us right now going *faster* than I was", he exclaims to the cop.
The cop takes a look in the back seat at a tackle box and reel and asks, "Are you heading fishing, sir?" The guy says yes.
The cop looks at him long and hard again and asks, "What happens if you don't catch them all?"
Another car-stopping T cop
First-person account.
Jurisdiction
Transit Police have full police powers in all communities where the MBTA goes. Generally, their bailiwick is reserved for protecting and defending the transit system, but it's not limited to that.
When initiating a traffic stop on a public way, it is my understanding that Transit dispatch will notify the local gendarmes as a courtesy. That way, the local constabulary can assist if it so desires.
Another Transit Police traffic stop
Around 12:30 p.m. today on the Jamaicaway/Centre Street, northbound across from Faulkner Hospital.
Tell us
Just how *cute* were those baby pics, huh?
Touche
I mention it because I'd not heard much of Transit Police making traffic stops and now there are three incidents in about a day. Possibly means nothing, of course.
As for the baby pictures, the transit cop must've taken it back to his car, since that's where he was sitting with his blues flashing behind a stopped motorist.
If it was in front of the
If it was in front of the Faulkner, that's just Centre st. - no connection with the Jamaicaway. The Jamaicaway ends at the rotary just south of Jamaica Pond.
One reason some people are wary of this
Cop-impersonators and non-jurisdictional stops as a setup for rape
I'm not saying that this here MBTA Cop is up to no good, but I thought it might be worth pointing out that these activities may be viewed as somewhat suspicious in the minds of the public for good reason.
Except I don't think that's the case here
In the three instances, we have a guy who's just suspicious of cops in general, a woman who's annoyed she got pulled over by a transit cop, for chrissake's and a busybody who'd just never seen a Transit Police traffic stop before. It's more an issue of why are T cops suddenly busting people for speeding (or, as I'm sure Kaz could point out, it could just be three random incidents brought together through the miracle of the Internets). See, if I were a reporter, instead of a just a blogger down in ma's basement (well, actually, on our back porch), I'd call Joe Pesaturo up and ask. But real work beckons ...
As for cop-impersonating deputy fire chiefs (innocent and all that), ugh.
Bingo
Ah, the miracles of the intarwebs.
I don't have the link any more but I found an article from the NU paper that commented on a concerted effort by MBTA Transit Police to make more people aware of the "open door" law against passing a stopped trolley on the E line. It was from last year and they had a sting setup to watch a trolley as it stopped at all stops opening its door. If someone passed it, they stopped them and gave them a written warning and said that the next time they'd receive a ticket.
MBTA stops happen all the time evidently. Maybe it's even a new concerted effort right now that has the incidence rate higher than normal so as they are being observed more often. Maybe it's just dumb luck and coincidence. And maybe it's baby pictures.
Transit Police Powers
The Transit Police (MBTA Police) have had the authority to stop motor vehicles since their inception in 1968. MV stops are not their primary responsibility, but they are allowed to make discretionary stops when public safety is at risk, e.g. drunk drivers, failing to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, flagrant red light violations, etc. In the area of Huntington and S. Huntington the MBTA trolleys pick up and let off passengers on the street (Brigham Cr. – Heath St.). Officers are assigned to the area to perform traffic stops for MV’s that fail to stop for passengers entering and exiting trolleys as required by law. Passengers have been struck in the past by vehicles that have failed to stop at trolleys stops in this particular area. Also, officers are routinely performing checks of the nearby bus stops to ensure they are clear for the elderly and handicapped patrons. I hope this clears up any confusion you may have regarding Transit Police Chapter 90 powers and what they do.