Bus drivers to be allowed to search passengers
Amid effort to increase security, drivers to be trained in explosives detection and given right to detain passengers
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As part of an effort to ensure public safety and thwart terror activities, Israeli bus drivers will be required to complete a course that will train them on how to search and deal with suspicious passengers.
Upon completion of the course, which will be administered by the police, they will be given a certificate granting them clearance to search anyone who arouses their suspicion.
According to the Transportation Ministry, after they are trained, bus drivers will also have the authority to confiscate items considered a threat to public security and demand the names, addresses and official identification of passengers they deem suspicious, as well as the authority to restrain passengers until the arrival of police.
The course, established by the public security wing of the Israel Police, will include lessons in self-defense, explosive detection, crisis management and the rights of passengers.
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz said that the course would allow drivers to “better cope with attempted terrorist attacks on public transportation and help prevent hostile individuals from harming the security of the public and passengers.”
During the Second Intifada, which saw a spate of suicide bombings in buses, and in the years that followed, Israel employed thousands of security guards on buses.
The Times of Israel Community.