Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Year : 2, Issue : 11
The NYPD is expected to resume and enhance bag checks at certain subway stations starting this week as part of an effort to cut down on burgeoning crime within the transit system, Mayor Eric Adams announced Tuesday. The Democrat didn’t immediately say which stations would see enhanced security, but according to City Hall, police will be deploying 94 bag screening teams to 136 subway stations each week. Intelligence, threat assessments and passenger volume are set to determine locations.
“We are going to continuously make sure we show a visible presence to deal with
how people are feeling in our subway system right now,” Adams said. “When I ride, people say ‘Eric, nothing makes me feel safer than seeing that officer walking through the system, walking trains.’”
Adams also said the city is continuing to review technology for detecting metal objects entering the transit system. Nothing is yet imminent on that front.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said Tuesday the governor planned to add state manpower to support the NYPD efforts.
“Governor Hochul has made historic commitments to make our subways safer, from security cameras to mental health personnel, and tomorrow she will unveil new legislation to protect riders, new State personnel to assist NYPD with bag checks, and other new measures to keep New Yorkers safe,” a spokesperson said.
Hochul, also a Democrat, met with Adams and top officials with the NYPD and MTA last week to discuss the plans.
High-profile cases of subway violence have killed and injured a number of New Yorkers in multiple boroughs in recent weeks. Most recently, a man checking his phone was kicked to the tracks at New York Penn Station. He was still in the hospital as of Monday evening, undergoing a CAT scan and X-rays to assess his injuries, but was expected to survive.
Last week, a subway conductor was knifed in the neck in Brooklyn, a 27-year-old was slashed in the hand in Manhattan and a 61-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach in the Bronx in three unrelated incidences of transit violence within 36 hours. A recent trio of homicides also made headlines. MTA officials have condemned the string of violence.
Recent NYPD data paints a concerning picture, with 2023 seeing the highest number of subway assaults since at least 1996. Over that year, there were 570 assaults, marking a slight increase from the previous year and averaging about 1.5 incidents daily.
But NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper says progress is being made. An infusion of 1,000 more officers into the subway system — done in direct response to a January spike that featured a 45% jump in crime, according to Kemper — led to a 17% reduction in crime in February, Kemper said.
That crime spike came after the city ended its police overtime program in the subway. It was not clear who (the city or the state) will foot the bill for the estimated $15 million a month the extra policing costs.
“We picked up some of the cost ourselves, but it didn’t have the same level of omnipresence,” Adams said.
For the year, subway crime is still up 13% compared to 2023, with assaults on the transit system up 11%. NYPD transit police are investigating 86 assaults, up from last year’s 77. And three homicides in the first two months of the year mark a troubling start, especially when compared to 2023 at this time, when there were none.
Source: NBC
