Hundreds of people sleep and roam in the Metro
Photo: ANDRÉS CORREA GUATARASMA
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Civilians are not the only ones targeted during the recent surge in violence in the New York City Subway.
Serious crimes against cops in the subway are also on the rise, with 15 attacks on police officers in January, compared to just 5 during the same month in 2020, NYPD Traffic Chief Kathleen O’Reilly warned Thursday.
Speaking during an MTA board meeting, O’Reilly said that figure was a large part of the total 43 serious assaults on the Metro last month.
The release of the statistics comes amid growing concern over an increase in violence on NYC’s public transportation, with reports of passengers beaten, pushed, cut and up to two killed in recent weeks.
New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said last week that he would reinforce the police presence with about 500 more officers after the bloody night of February 12 that left two dead and two other wounded, all attacked by the same person on line A.
MTA President Pat Foye said Thursday that the NYPD has already deployed 644 more police officers to the Metro system in recent days, but it is not enough. And he reiterated the MTA’s call for a total of 1,500 more officers to patrol the subway.
“This is a good first step,” Foye said of the agents deployed so far. “But we are going to need approximately 900 more police officers to provide the type of coverage and security that our users and employees deserve ”.
“Our request will bring us back to the level of NYPD staffing in the subways that existed in 1995, when the New York City Transit Police merged with the NYPD to form today’s NYPD Transit Office,” he said.
Traffic officials say crime in general has decreased in the Metro, and the number of passengers has been reduced by 70% due to the pandemic, but attacks have increased.
Violence and The city’s “mental health crises” are wreaking havoc on the transportation system, denounced in January the chief of transit of the city (NYC Transit), Sarah Feinberg, in a letter sent to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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