So, now in response to something that originated someplace else, we in New York move another step closer to a police state. It’s amazing the things people will allow under the illusion of safety and security.

Teams of police offers will now stop subway trains at random for spot safety checks.

NEW YORK -- The New York Police Department swept through subways with hand-held radiation detectors on Monday, looking for dirty bombs and sending the message that there is heightened security on city subways, NewsChannel 4 reported.

The high-profile random checks will be conducted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, authorities said. Subway crews won't even know until they pull into a station that police will board and check the train. Once straphangers are notified, a team of more than a dozen officers with dogs will begin their anti-terror work. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced on Monday that initiatives like this will receive federal support.

Part of the sweep will involve engaging each and every passenger of the train being inspected, so now we’ve taken that foreboding step where people are able to be stopped and spot checked, just like the good old days before the revolutionary war.

Never mind the fact you now will have officers with machine guns patrolling the subway — is everyone in this country asleep?