Article: Caboolture bomb scare hits busy rail network

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Caboolture bomb scare hits busy rail network

Caboolture bomb scare hits busy rail network
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Natalie Gregg and Ursula Heger

October 07, 2009 11:00pm

THE rail network was plunged into chaos after three men were detained by police and passengers forced to evacuate a tilt train at Caboolture.

The men were later released and no suspicious items found, but the train was delayed for more than three hours and 15 services through the station were suspended.

It is understood a passenger on the Brisbane to Rockhampton tilt train telephoned police after hearing a fellow traveller talking about having a bomb.

When the train arrived at Caboolture station at 11.50am, police told the 170 passengers on board to leave the train.

A exclusion zone was set up as dog squads searched the train.

Passengers waiting in the carpark said they saw three men of middle-eastern appearance handcuffed and detained by police.

Umit Er, 38, a fruit picker from Carindale, and another man were held by police for about an hour before being released.

A third man was taken to Caboolture police station for questioning.

He was released later yesterday afternoon after the tilt-train he had been travelling on had left Caboolture station.

Mr Er, who was travelling to Rockhampton for work, said he had disembarked and was waiting with other passengers when he was approached by police.

"They hand-cuffed me and put me in the car and I waited there for about half an hour," he said.

"There was no air and they wouldn't open the windows and then they said there was a bomb threat and that I had the same clothes on as the suspect."

Mr Er said he was "humiliated and degraded" by the ordeal.

"Everyone on the train is coming up to me and saying, 'what's going on?'

"I've never even had a parking ticket in my life let alone been arrested. That's the first time I have had cuffs on. I feel so embarrassed."

Caboolture Police inspector Terry Borland said after dog squads had searched the train, no suspicious items were found.

"We put police dogs through the train and we considered it safe for it to travel," he said.

Insp Borland said it was unfortunate the innocent men were detained but all three matched the description given to police.

"If they felt that bad about it I'm happy to say sorry to them.

"We are not there to do anything untoward to anyone but we have a job to do and at times it's a difficult job and we do it to the best of our ability and the best that we can."

Passengers re-boarded the tilt train and continued their journey at about 3.10pm.

[ButFli]

So police detain people because they are the same race as a suspect now? Disgusting.

[Derwan]

What would they have done if the description was, "Caucasian man"?   

[WTN]

They detained suspects that matched the description (including clothes).  What's horrifying is having innocent victims being arrested and treated cruelly.  But at least the officers were happy to apologise, unlike some other incidents. 

[ButFli]

They detained suspects that matched the description (including clothes).

What, middle-eastern wearing pants and a shirt?

Are we sure there actually was a "real" suspect in the first place?

[Mozz]

I haven't been across this issue and didn't read much of the media reports but quite probably with vision of 20 20 hindsight there might not have been a "real" suspect however those operational staff including Police don't have access to this type of technology now or probably in the future.

They have to make real decisions, generally quite quickly, based on the available information which generally in major situations is continuously changing.

Logic dictates that witness reports of a person/s acting suspiciously and/or discussing explosive devices which may or may not be on the train in question would lead Police to detain people matching the description until they could investigate further. Pretty much a standard operating procedure in this and the rest of the world really.

Super powers are not real, they exist in the world of movies, animation and comics, the real world is much more dull and indeed filled with grey, good guys don't always wear white and bad guys don't always wear black.

[WTN]

I was left wondering whether there was a real suspect too.  This article seems to say there wasn't one. 

The other issue is that the suspect description appeared to be too broad.  But you can't have everything in a situation like this.