AMTRAK PULLS DEA COMPUTER

Amtrak has pulled the plug on a controversial computer that gave the
Albuquerque office of the Drug Enforcement Administration direct
access to the train's ticketing system.

However, Amtrak police said this week they will continue to provide
information they glean from the ticketing system to other police
agencies across the United States to help catch train-riding drug
couriers.

Amtrak police also will continue to receive a portion of the assets
that drug agents seize off trains around the nation.

"We cooperate with law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, and
will continue to do so in the future," Amtrak Police Chief Ernest R.
Frazier Sr. said in a letter to the Journal, dated Monday.

"I have reviewed the issue of computer access because of concerns
raised and have ensured that my personnel will maintain direct
control of computers on our property and access to Amtrak
information," Frazier said in the letter.

The computer ticketing information could provide drug agents with
details such as passengers' last names, where they were traveling
from, when they bought their tickets and whether they used cash or
credit to pay for them. Agents used ticketing information to narrow
down who they wanted to speak with - and therefore whose luggage
could eventually be sniffed by a drug-detecting dog - when the trains
rolled into Albuquerque.

Critics have said that using the passenger information could lead to
singling out people based on ethnicity or financial status. The DEA
and Amtrak have said they do not engage in racial profiling.

Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the national ACLU, said
Tuesday that even if the DEA does not have direct access to Amtrak's
computer files, "there's a pretty strong argument" that the
information-sharing arrangement violates the U.S. Constitution's
prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

"Amtrak police ... shouldn't be trawling through customer information
without good cause," Steinhardt said.

Peter Simonson, executive director of the ACLU of New Mexico, said
it's a "significant improvement" that the computer in the DEA office
is no longer online. But he said the ACLU still is pondering legal
action.

"... It's still disturbing that any police agency is using customer
records to conduct investigations," Steinhardt said.

Steinhardt said the arrangement may violate the Federal Privacy Act,
which he said prohibits one federal agency from sharing personal
information with another.

Amtrak spokeswoman Lynn Bowersox said this week that "the Federal
Privacy Act does not apply to Amtrak, and we have not violated the
law. If the ACLU pursues an action, we will respond in due course."

The computer-system arrangement between Amtrak and the DEA came to
light last month after a DEA agent outlined the practice while being
questioned by a defense attorney. The questioning took place during a
pretrial interview in a pending drug case stemming from an Amtrak
stop.

Agent Kevin Small said during the pretrial interview that the
Albuquerque DEA office has had access to Amtrak's ticketing computer
system for several years.

Small said in the taped interview that agents looked for the
"consistent factors" in drug-seizure cases. He said those factors
were usually one-way cash tickets bought within three days of the
departure date.

"We're the only law enforcement agency outside of Amtrak, this
office, that has that computer," Small said in the interview. He
added that tips are passed out "all over the country."

Small's supervisor, Steven Derr, has defended the practice, saying it
does not involve racial profiling, adding "the whole idea of why we
do it this way is so we're not randomly stopping people."

Amtrak Police Chief Frazier said that although Amtrak police do share
in the proceeds of forfeited property, the proceeds "must be used for
law enforcement purposes only. ..." The letter added that "this is
not a unique program, but one in which many state and local police
departments throughout the country have participated for years."

The Journal last week asked both Amtrak and the DEA about how much
money Amtrak receives in drug forfeiture money each year. The DEA has
not responded, and Bowersox said Tuesday she did not yet have the
answer.

Amtrak is not considered to be a federal agency, Bowersox said, but
she said it is receiving $521 million in federal money this year.

Bowersox said that the Federal Privacy Act doesn't apply to the train
service. Steinhardt said the ACLU is still researching the issue.

"Amtrak ... is federally funded. It is, in most respects,
indistinguishable from a federal agency," Steinhardt said.

Bowersox said people who buy Amtrak tickets are not informed that the
information they're providing could be used for law-enforcement
purposes. But she said within the next month, passengers who purchase
tickets via the Internet will see a "privacy statement" that will
inform them of that possibility. She said people who purchase their
tickets over the counter also will soon see some similar wording on
their Amtrak tickets.