Evening Railfanning Secaucus Junction 5/29/2011 (Serious run-in with NJ Transit Police)

[DMcGrath44]

It would be nice if they gave even a fraction of this attention to those smoking on platforms.

[NJTAmtrakGuy]

@tazamack12 I had an even worse incident in Washington D.C. on the Metro.

[trainfan1143]

I was with SuperStarRendon recently at Trenton and an NJT officer called in that people were filming trains to an Amtrak executive who approaches us later. Amtrak officer-"Are you just taking pictures, then move back and watch out for the trains and you can still film." NJT is just paranoid. Six months ago an NJT officer approaches me and my dad gives him the letter that is on the link in the description. He reads it, takes my dads license writes down his info, and we have the consent to film.

[NJTAmtrakGuy]

@tazamack12 I don't understand why they called almost all the officers down to yell at us. That was crazy! At least the one that spoke to me was polite but the one across the platform was very rude.

[NJTist]

IT'S ALL BULL SHIT

[jbyoung100]

FUCK DA POLICE!!!

[septa8500]

awsome!

[howardkevinm]

those are Amtrak tracks he has no power to tell you jack splat.

[az196823]

I really Don't like Transit Cops,they always go after the Wroung People Like You & other Railfanners!!! They don't understand Railfanners & Train spoters are not Bombers!!! We alway Follow the Rules of the Railroad!!! F!@K off Transit Cops!!!

[trainfan1143]

@az196823 they think we are part of a potential "terrorist project." We put the videos on the internet and terrorists see the videos and plot a plan to bomb us.

[Staytec]

Honestly, I think the other guy should've known about the tripod rule. Most transit authorities (at least MTA and MBTA, NJT/Amtrak wouldn't surprise me) do ban tripod use, especially without the permit. But I wish there was a way that railfans could get in to talk with say, the police chief, or whoever runs the certain precinct which oversees the station and at least get the cops to watch their attitude or something. I can understand they're just working but they don't have to be jerks about it.

[SuperStarRendon]

What happen here is, it was called in by an engineer or a passenger as suspicious activities. Engineers and passengers do call in to report suspicious activities. As for the police officer, he made matters worse by creating a hostile environment. From my experience the best thing to do is announce yourself to any officer on duty and let them know you will be filming and taking photos, that way they know if anyone calls it in. By the way I saw someone filming on Sunday while going by.

[NJTAmtrakGuy]

@SuperStarRendon I don't think it was called in because that first cop was on the platform for about 20mins before the problem. He looked over and happened to see us filming.

[ecoRfan]

This can be called "abuse of authority". It's really CREATING a problem, not "making things safer", it's disturbing peace. And recording the passage of passenger trains we can all see has NO such elements of "contraband" at all.

Another question: with the doubleheader, were both units turned on? Seems '33 might have been HEP, while '63 was all traction, took off faster than any other bi-level set.

[NJTAmtrakGuy]

@ecoRfan Yeah that was kind of crazy. I guess '63 and '33 where both on but i'm not sure. Has the propulsion on 33' been modified to sound in that lower tone yet? Last time I saw 33' I think it still had the high pitched propulsion but that was a while back.

[seClip9]

Those cops needs to be retrained for their unprofessional actions towards riders. At least question briefly and then leave them alone, not forcing them to forbidden photography on public area.

[Nexis4Jersey]

But these cops acted way out of line , except the cop who was nice to you. Rule number of one i communicating with people , don't yell or raise your voice it creates a hostile situation or makes the person feel uncomfortable. I guess the cop didn't get that memo.....he should be suspended and have to go to Public Situations 101 class. I think i'm going to print that form out so that i don't have any future issues.... Although to this date ive only had to incidents.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Because Solo people would fit the profile of a Terriost or someone up to no good. I guess it depends how you in the station act , if your standing in one spot for the entire time there going to probably look at you more then if you were moving around. A General rule for the Urban Fanner community is to only stay in one spot for 20-30 mins , then move somewhere else. Also tripods are a no no these days , unfortnalty they get bitchy over them for some reason and they do kind get in the way

[Nexis4Jersey]

Ah yes , those guys...i reported them in November for harrasing me , one of them got suspended for 2 weeks for calling me retarded. There aggression is troubling , who do they think they are the president? This is why people are not reporting crime on NJT , because the cops act like jackass's. But this problem seems to occur on weekends more then weekdays , i guess they have more times on there hands? Unfortnatly Groups attract cops more then solo fanners , which in my opinion is odd.

[GenesisSanctuary]

Geez, three cops just because you were filming and taking pictures?? That's going way overboard. Plus, I really don't see what the big deal in having a tripod is, considering there is nothing in the NJT photo policy prohibiting their use. I mean, the only problem I see with it is that it can get in the way sometimes.

[NJTAmtrakGuy]

@GenesisSanctuary I know! The cop that stopped me was polite though. Secaucus has a history of not allowing railfans to bring tripods.

[GenesisSanctuary]

@NJTAmtrakGuy I can understand that carrying a tripod around in a place like this could be a bit problematic, particularly if you're trying to carry it around the lobby and through the faregates without completely folding it up. However, there really shouldn't be any problem with their use if they are set up in a position where they don't get in anyone's way.

[DAL3294]

From what I can tell it seems only one cop was unreasonable with his attitude. Sounds to me like the last one just wanted to be sure who you are. If they eventually left you alone I would call it a non event. 

[NJTAmtrakGuy]

@DAL3294 They left me alone but they made the other guy put his camera and tripod away.