Do You Have to Let the National Guard Search Your Bag on the Subway?

Soon after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she would be deploying hundreds of members of the National Guard and state police to help conduct bag checks in the New York City subway system, questions began to emerge about how the plan would work.

How long will the National Guard be doing this? Is it a violation of rights? What happens if you refuse to have your bag checked?

Here are some answers to those questions:

Can you say no to a bag check?

Yes. Under the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees the right to protection from unreasonable searches and seizures, a rider can decline a bag search if the police do not have a reasonable suspicion that the rider has done something illegal or is carrying a weapon.

On Thursday, Ms. Hochul made several appearances on news shows to explain the initiative. The National Guard and the state police, she said, would assist the city’s police officers as they checked bags for weapons in the “busiest” stations.

“This is not punitive,” she said during an interview on MSNBC. “This is more of a deterrent.”

But she also warned that riders who refuse to consent to bag checks would have to leave the system.

“Go home,” Ms. Hochul said on Fox 5 New York. “We’re not going to search you. You can say no, but you’re not taking the subway.”