Last week several police agencies did security training at the local train yard. The city chief of police invited me to come down for it, but warned that I might not be allowed to photograph very much. They were in full SWAT gear, doing "forced entries" on train passenger cars. The dummies in the photo are part of that exercise - one is the "bad guy" who has taken control of the car. They have to rush in, figure out which dummy is holding the gun and "take it out" without shooting the tiny little paint-ball like bullets at anyone else. Later, real people are added to the mix. It's all part of training for a possible terrorist attack on a railroad.
The guy running the exercise was all for me taking many photos, as long as no one could be identified. He even thought it would be a good idea for me to suit up in protective gear and sit in the car as a "good guy" passenger.
Unfortunately, it wasn't his choice. One of the departments - the one with the most guys there - said they wouldn't allow me to photograph any of them, even in full gear with their faces totally covered.
The commander and I talked a bit more about the train that is used for these exercises and then he pointed to a passenger car that wasn't being used for a forced entry at the time and asked, "So, do you want to go take a picture of the dummies?"
I was good. I did not respond, "Yes, but they won't let me."
