No, State Police say, we’re not running immigration checkpoints

State Police say concerns over a pair of pictures of a state trooper talking to passengers and collecting on a bus are ill-founded.

"No, this was not an immigration checkpoint," State Police wrote on Facebook. "We were not checking your 'papers.' Names taken were not entered into a double-secret federal database."

In the pictures, accompanying the State Police post and originally posted by an Instagram user, the trooper can be seen talking to passengers and looking at paperwork. The images no longer appear on user LVwithLove's Instagram account.

"The truth is that this trooper was recording passengers' names, ages, towns of residence, and seat locations for, brace yourselves, a crash report," the State Police Facebook post said.

While no identification of the trooper was made, the post said that typically junior members of the force collect information. State Police said after a crash, troopers will collect information about passengers and where they were located in involved vehicle.

"Oh, and no, you don't have to provide your license," the State Police wrote. "You can provide your info verbally, but it's easier and more accurate if we copy information from a license. Many names are not commonly spelled. "

Whatever the reaction to the pictures may be, the State Police said the information being collected was for the benefit the passengers themselves.

"This is a service done for you. If you find yourself injured, you're going to need this information for a whole host of reasons," Police said.

Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com