T GM Richard Davey, Deputy Transit Police Chief Joseph O'Connor at Hynes today.
MBTA officials today hailed people using social media to post photos of alleged exposers and gropers, although they said they're prefer if the photos were forwarded to them before being posted to social-media sites.
At the same time, officials say there are limits to photography underground: Try taking photos of power panels or locks or tunnels and don't be surprised if a T worker tells you to knock it off.
MBTA General Manager Richard Davey and Deputy Police Chief Joseph O'Connor held a press conference inside Hynes station today to report the arrest of two alleged T pervs - one of whom had his photo posted on Twitter before he even got off the train.
O'Connor said he'd rather have people report directly to MBTA police, but said that he recognized that "a certain demographic" may be more comfortable broadcasting on a social network such as Twitter. "In this case, it worked out quite successfully," he said, adding detectives initially contacted the photographer through his Twitter account.
As one passerby started yelling at Davey and O'Connor about people taking her photo on the T, Davey said there's nothing wrong with taking photos of possibly illicit activity on the T. "There is no expectation of privacy in a public place," Davey said. "That's pretty well established."
At the same time, O'Connor emphasized police will not simply pick somebody up because of a Twitter photo - detectives will use other methods, such as photos from CCTV cameras in the T system and plain old police footwork to investigate first.
O'Connor said Lawrence Maguire was arrested for the Red Line incident after his photo was distributed among T police and one lieutenant recognized him from past dealings. In the case of the Reservoir incidents, O'Connor said his department has "compelling evidence" from other photos that the man exposed himself by removing a reusable shopping bag when a woman walked by.
O'Connor added that while he hopes news of people snapping perv shots will discourage future incidents, the alleged pervs are still out there. He said police have yet to identify one man who was allegedly taking compromising photos on a Green Line trolley.
Meanwhile, Davey said that even as the T encourages people to take photos of possibly illegal acts, he cautioned that not everything on the T is open to photographers.
Current written T photo policy says non-commercial photography is generally allowed on the T, subject to certain safety restrictions (no flash or getting in the way of the public or T workers). However, the police also prohibits photos that could pose "a security or safety threat."
Davey said this could include photos of tunnels, power panels and power rooms and locks; in those cases, T workers can tell photographers to knock it off.
As recently as last month, however, photographers have reported T workers refusing to let them take even innocuous photos.
Davey said T workers are allowed to stop photographers caught shooting certain parts of the MBTA "infrastrtucture," such as power panels, locks or even tunnels.
