Greensboro security changes

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

There was a person at the station Thursday that clearly had mental issues and likely homeless. Packing heat from security is not going to help this person, but having her walking around the Amtrak waiting room is also not what she needs either. Public places are hard with with how we handle homeless people, many of whom, are also dealing with mental health issues.

As a train host I have reported a few incidents on my hosting reports but I am not at the station everyday either. I think there is a bigger problem with people just hanging out right by the door smoking. I wish they would move a bit farther away.

https://myfox8.com/news/north-carol...mpt-security-changes-to-the-greensboro-depot/

 

[TheVig]

I'm not in the station everyday either, but I'm in and out enough to have seen my fair share of shenanigans. Most of the time the homeless will enter the station and ask people in the waiting area for money, and quickly leave. They know they are not welcome. The worst I've seen first hand is someone drop their pants down and drop a deuce on the floor. The second worse is someone take a leak in a corner.

I have no issues with only ticketed passengers being allowed in the Amtrak area.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I'm not in the station everyday either, but I'm in and out enough to have seen my fair share of shenanigans. Most of the time the homeless will enter the station and ask people in the waiting area for money, and quickly leave. They know they are not welcome. The worst I've seen first hand is someone drop their pants down and drop a deuce on the floor. The second worse is someone take a leak in a corner.

I have no issues with only ticketed passengers being allowed in the Amtrak area.

I don't really have a problem with making the station only for passengers or those waiting with or for someone. Both of what you mention are clearly things no one wants to deal with, and the restrooms upstairs are unlocked. I am willing to bet a trip in a sleeper that both of the incidents you mention are from those with mental illness. Which gets back to the issue of how we handle those with mental illness and that is bigger than Amtrak of course.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

We are getting a bit away from Amtrak but this is directly impacting Greensboro so hopefully we can keep the discussion close enough to the topic at hand.. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest showed how bad institutionalized care was decades ago. We don't need that but we do need something in place that is more than we have now. Locally Greensboro needs to fund an employee to be around the Depot and work with this population of residents. Maybe someone that is not packing heat and knows how to deescalate the situation. And some people just need to be in hospitals for treatment, but that mental illness, or drugs, or both. That takes money.

 

[Palmland]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest showed how bad institutionalized care was decades ago. We don't need that but we do need something in place that is more than we have now.

Unfortunately, there was an over reaction to poorly run state institutions. Rather than reform them we eliminated them and are now paying the price. I worked in the Delaware State Hospital as a volunteer one summer in high school. I was assigned to the male geriatric ward. It was clean and well run. Most of the patients were WWII? vets with syphilis. I became really good at hospital corners making beds and bedpan/
mop detail. Without the hospital they would have been on the street and they were clearly incapable of caring for themselves.

Greensboro is certainly not the only station with this problem. After our last experience I don’t think we would ever stray far from the Portland station but we were pleasantly surprised recently at virtually no encounters walking from Moynihan to the Hudson Yards area.

 

[pennyk]

MODERATOR NOTE: Please limit your comments to a discussion about security at the Greensboro Amtrak station and avoid discussion about general societal issues.

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[pennyk]

We are locking this thread since it appears that there may not be anything additional to be said about security at the Greensboro station. Please PM the moderators if there is any additional relevant information.