Here’s the story. About a dozen photo club members were standing on the corner of Main and Preston
trying to decide what we were going to shoot that evening. While the discussion was going on, a
member or two set up their tripods and began taking some shots of the Metro Rail tracks and
passenger waiting area, waiting for a train to arrive. Seems this is a no-no in the eyes of the
Metro police. Within a couple of minutes we had an officer telling us it was against the law to
take pictures of the train or tracks! When we started questioning the officer’s statements (all in
a non-confrontational tone), she requested a supervisor. Making a long story short, the officers
present admitted that it wasn’t actually against the law but suggested that in the future we
should ‘check-in’ at the local substation and request a permit for taking Metro train pictures. In
order to get on with our evening plans the club’s president presented his driver’s license to an
officer and we were ‘cleared’ for the evening. Now, read the following, prepared by one of our club members:

"I wish to announce that I am now officially allowed to photograph Metro Rail. I may be the first
person to have ever requested and received a permit.
I had to return a rental car downtown near the Metro office, so I strolled over to inquire what I
needed to do to get a permit. Downstairs, the first employee had never heard of the permit and had
no idea, the second, after a phone call, sent me to the security desk upstairs. The two employees
at the security desk had never had anyone ask for a permit so neither of them knew.
After five phone calls, each referring the employee to a different office, I received my permit, a
three by three yellow post-it on which is hand written by the employee at the security desk "It is
okay for Gary W...... to photograph Metro Rail per ___." I was told to show the post-it to the
officer when I was stopped. It was a pretty lousy day, so I only shot one photograph but I just had
to do one legally, not of course, that it was ever illegal.
No one ever ask me for identification, nor was my description given to anyone on the phone. They
did ask if I wanted to photograph inside the train or just on the platform. I told them probably
both. The only time they even ask my name was to write out the post-it. Today, Houston and the
Metro Rail riders should feel much safer."