Thoughts on BART

_posts/2011-08-23-thoughts-on-bart-and-protesting.markdown

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+---
+layout: post
+title: Thoughts on BART and Protesting
+tags:
+- opinion
+- bart
+- protesting
+- opbart
+---
+
+<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/agentdero/6072365548/"
+title="Keeping SF clean by agentdero, on Flickr"><img
+src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6199/6072365548_03f63a2d17_m.jpg"
+width="180" height="240" alt="Keeping SF clean" align="left" hspace="10"></a>
+
+After leaving work yesterday, I walked with the protestors who were parading up
+and down Market St., while I'm ideologically in line with the protestors I
+wasn't really doing much other than walking, and occasionally tidying up, as
+captured by one of the other protestors in this image (that's me picking a
+trashcan up out of the road).
+
+I wanted to jot down my opinions in a cohesive post, rather than a jumble of
+tweets or retweets [on twitter](https://twitter.com/agentdero).
+
+<br clear="all"/>
+
+ * I don't necessarily think BART Police *must* be disbanded, but I do believe
+   that the majority of its officers should _not_ be carrying guns. The first
+   thing that's typically taught in Gun Safety classes is that you do not pull out
+   a gun [in self-defense] unless you're absolutely certain you need to and are
+   going to use it. An extension of that, in my opinion, is that you should not be
+   carrying a gun unless it's necessary and you're going to be using it. BART
+   Police should have guns at their disposal, but there is no need for every
+   officer that walks the beat to carry a firearm.
+ * Disrupting cell phone service for public safety on the platforms is
+   reasonable in my mind, subject to judicious oversight. Disrupting cell
+   phone service in _anticipation_ or in order to _prevent_ a protest is absolute
+   crap.
+ * BART's decision to simply shut down stations for a protest is absurd, it
+   makes it incredibly easy for *any* protest in the future to gain a massive
+   amount of press. Tip off BART that you will be protesting on a platform, get
+   them to shut down the station, regroup above ground. That said, I don't know
+   what a good solution would be, hundreds of people on the platform *is* unsafe.
+   But it is also something that happens *every single day* during rush hour on
+   BART platforms in downtown San Francisco.
+
+----
+
+I fear that the BART Board of Directors, or the Chief of BART Police might feel
+like they cannot make any "concessions" to the protestors at all, which would
+be most unfortunate. Would the public/press view their actions positively if
+they acknowledged mistakes and heavy-handedness by BART Police?
+
+I hope those involved in BART operations are able to see the root of the cause
+of this episode of civil unrest and do something proactive about it instead of
+continually sending men and women in riot gear to meet a frustrated populace
+on the streets of San Francisco.
+
+