(BrightPress.org) – New York Governor Kathy Hochul is placing 750 National Guard troops and 250 New York State Police troopers in the subway system in an attempt to derail a recent uptick in transit crime. These officers will be in addition to the 1000 New York City police officers ordered to patrol the subway system by Mayor Eric Adams in February following a 45% spike in crime for January.
Violent crimes and grand larceny thefts are pushing the Governor to deploy the extra officers. In February a conductor was slashed in the neck at a train station in Brooklyn, two commuters were attacked in a Queens station by a man wielding a hammer, and within hours of Hochul announcing her plan to deploy extra officers for added security, another conductor was attacked with a bottle. NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper said more than 3000 arrests were made in the subway system in January and February. These are only a few examples of the “heinous attacks” Hochul says will “not be tolerated”.
The National Guardsmen and state troopers will guard checkpoints and check bags for weapons. Commuters have the right to refuse the search at the risk of not being allowed onto the subway. Governor Hochul has also proposed to amend state law, allowing judges to ban people convicted of assault from using the subway system as part of sentencing.
Hochul is also allocating $20 million to expand the pilot program SCOUT, or Street Conditions Observation Units Team which will include individuals trained to assist people in the “throes of a mental health crisis” on the subway system.
The transit system will also be adding more cameras inside subway cars focused on conductor cabins. Janno Lieber, the Metropolitan Transport Authority Chair and CEO said the transit system has existing cameras in stations and on trains in addition to 10,000 monitoring devices. According to Lieber, the monitoring system has “proven time and time again” to lead police to offenders which in turn helps deter crime.
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