To Catch a Thief

Federal funds intended to fight terrorism have been partly used by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to fund officers stationed on Muni who primarily catch fare evaders. Transit officials point out that their presence has reduced crime in general—certainly a good thing, though last we checked fare evasion was not exactly a terrorist act. Muni's approach seems to fall within a gray area allowed by Homeland Security, though if the practice were ever called into question, Muni and police would need to argue that nabbing fare evaders is indeed a counterterrorism strategy. [SF Examiner]