CZ Omaha police

[Just-Thinking-51]

It ceases to be totally separate (from a practical consideration) when the conductor says "This officer is going to search your sleeping compartment, or you're going to be put off the train". If you want to continue your journey, you consent to the search. If you don't consent to the search, you find yourself at "any inhabited place" watching the markers recede into the distance.

That is a very big "What if" question.

Nobody has ever report this happening.

As I think I said earlier in this discussion, one of my good friends who loves to travel Amtrak had exactly that happen to him this year at Reno on the CZ. Solely on the basis of profiling his looks (60-ish, gray hair and full beard), or some other cue that they homed in on, they told him they would search his roomette NOW, or take him off the train with his luggage (to wait for the warrant while the train went on), if he insisted on a warrant. He allowed, because he wanted to get home. They found nothing (precisely what I would have expected with him), and he continued his trip homeward.

I readed both of your post and it sound like the police officer was making the threat to remove the pax off the train. Ryan's "What if" question was about the conductor tell the pax that this police officer was going to search your room and if you did not allow, the conductor was going to toss you off the train. Two different issues. Conductor boss of train with the power to make your trip eventful. Police officer has to follow the laws of the United States of America.

 

[Ryan]

I gave the cop enough credit to be smart enough to know that he couldn't compel compliance, but that he could work through the conductor to put him off the train. If it didn't happen in that situation, it's still a hypothetical, but I wouldn't think it that unlikely depending on the conductor (and remembering that the Conductor works the same territory, so he's likely to run across the same group of cops again and again.

I'm not sure what reasoning would explain why an Amtrak roomette should be that much different from a rental car.

Logically, I agree. In practice, Amtrak has the T&C's written in a way that the Conductor can do what he pleases - not something that exists once you've rolled the rental car off the property.

 

[BCL]

I would note that I've traveled in foreign countries where buses and trains boarded in secure areas, where my luggage was X-rayed, and I was required to walk through a metal detector.

OTOH- I'm not sure how much of this is just for show. One time I went to a consulate to get a tourist visa, the place had uniformed security and a metal detector. I was about to leave the line to put my Swiss Army knife back in my car, but security said it was OK. Heck - I remember when I used to carry a small one on a chain around my neck, and airport security said a small pocket knife was OK.

 

[oregon pioneer]

BTW, I just came through on the CZ about 10 days ago. I saw no sign of police in my sleeper car, but I had discussed the situation with a breakfast companion in coach, and here's what she reported to me later:

Two policemen boarded in Reno. They came through the train as it left westbound. They homed in on a young man just a couple of rows away, and asked him politely ("Now, we know you're just a fine young man, wouldn't do anything illegal, but would you mind if we just looked in that bag..."). He gave permission (she said he looked scared, and she figured she had a right to watch and was just kneeling on her seat looking back two rows at them), and they searched the bag. Then they went into the vestibule of the next car up, and had a discussion between themselves. They returned two more times, each time asking to see more, till they had gone through everything he had. Then they asked him how much money he had with him ("not over $1,000?"). Then they left him alone, and got off at Truckee.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

BTW, I just came through on the CZ about 10 days ago. I saw no sign of police in my sleeper car, but I had discussed the situation with a breakfast companion in coach, and here's what she reported to me later:

Two policemen boarded in Reno. They came through the train as it left westbound. They homed in on a young man just a couple of rows away, and asked him politely ("Now, we know you're just a fine young man, wouldn't do anything illegal, but would you mind if we just looked in that bag..."). He gave permission (she said he looked scared, and she figured she had a right to watch and was just kneeling on her seat looking back two rows at them), and they searched the bag. Then they went into the vestibule of the next car up, and had a discussion between themselves. They returned two more times, each time asking to see more, till they had gone through everything he had. Then they asked him how much money he had with him ("not over $1,000?"). Then they left him alone, and got off at Truckee.

Since this was Westbound it sounds like they may have been looking for a targeted mule returning home with a stash of cash from a delivery. Dope goes East, Dough goes West.