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Two hundred more cops will be added to the NYC subway system after a series of upsetting, high-profile incidents, according to NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The measure, which will begin immediately, will include “specialty train patrols” on platforms at the 50 stations with the highest crime rates.
This new push is all due to the “terrifying acts of random violence” we’ve recently seen in the subway, rather than the actual crime rate, Tisch said during a press conference on Monday.
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“It’s all part of a strategy to refocus our subway efforts to the places where the crime is occurring,” she said. “We know that 78% of transit crime occurs on trains and on platforms. And that is quite obviously where our officers need to be.”
Today, I met with @MTA CEO Janno Lieber and his team. In order to further reduce crime in transit and ensure riders feel safe, we are deploying more than 200 officers onto the trains and more officers onto the subway platforms in stations across the city.
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) January 7, 2025
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It wasn't immediately clear which 50 subway stations will be affected.
According to the NYPD’s most recent crime report, 2024 saw a 5.4% drop in crime within the subway system—more than double the crime reduction in 2023. And that’s included in the overall reduction of crime of 3% or about 3,662 fewer incidents across the boroughs.
Even so, the recent horrific murder of a 57-year-old woman on a train in Brooklyn and a number of pushing incidents, have struck fear in many New Yorkers, prompting the NYPD to add more cops to add a layer of underground safety.
“It is clear, perception always overrides reality, and when you look at some of the horrific incidents that the commissioner talked about in these last few days, the average New Yorker would believe that they're living in a city that is out of control. That is not the reality," Mayor Eric Adams said at the conference. "We know that we are doing a good job in fighting crime, as the numbers will show, but we must deal with the perception that many New Yorkers feel."
In addition, Mayor Adams said the state will focus on addressing severe mental health issues when it comes to subway safety.
“We know we have to tackle that perception, and it starts with dealing with the real issue—mental health,” ABC News reported him saying.
Earlier this month, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a plan to address mental health care and supportive housing.
“The recent surge in violent crimes in our public transit system cannot continue—and we need to tackle this crisis head-on,” Hochul said, even though there hasn’t been a surge according to the NYPD’s report. “Many of these horrific incidents have involved people with serious untreated mental illness, the result of a failure to get treatment to people who are living on the streets and are disconnected from our mental health care system. We have a duty to protect the public from random acts of violence, and the only fair and compassionate thing to do is to get our fellow New Yorkers the help they need.”
You might remember Hochul deployed 750 National Guard members and 250 police officers to the subway back in March to check people's bags after what she called a spate of high-profile crimes underground. She also pitched a plan to allow judges to ban folks convicted of a violent crime from riding NYC trains.
Until then, keep an eye out for more cops underground.