The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has always insisted on a near-zero-tolerance policy to keep the subway clean, safe and rider-friendly. But the task of balance has never proved easy for Metro's transit police, who have been the target of numerous complaints about overzealous enforcement.

In September, for example, a Metro officer asked a pregnant woman using a cellphone to lower her voice. Their disagreement escalated to the point that the officer wrestled her to the ground and handcuffed her; charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest were dismissed a month later.

In July, an Environmental Protection Agency employee who had not yet passed through the turnstile was arrested for chewing the last bits of a chocolate bar after she had been told by a Metro officer that eating in the station was forbidden. She was fined $10.

In October 2000, a 12-year-old girl was placed in handcuffs for eating a single French fry on a boarding platform. A federal court later ruled that the arrest was "foolish," but that her Constitutional rights had not been violated. Metro has since ceased handcuffing minors for eating.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,1,95739.story

bugmenot: iHateSpam2 password: iHateSpam2