NY orders search of bags on subways

The inspections started on a small scale Thursday in Manhattan and were to be expanded during Friday morning's rush hour a development welcomed by some commuters.

"I'm not against it," Ian Compton, 35, a computer consultant, said at Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan. "I think any measures for safety that aren't terribly intrusive are worth doing."

Officers, some with bomb-sniffing dogs, will stop people carrying bags as they enter subways, buses and ferries at various points in the city, police said. Anyone who refuses a search will be turned away, and those caught carrying drugs or other contraband could be arrested.

Police officials said they had considered taking the measure to thwart bombings for the past three years. Two terrorist attacks on transit targets in London forced their hand, said Paul Browne, the police department's chief spokesman.