NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The NYPD said Tuesday that the additional police presence and enforcement in the subway are making a major dent in transit crime.
NYPD Transit Chief Michael Kemper told reporters that the NYPD's "Cops, Cameras and Care" strategy, launched last October, drove crime down by more than 20% since January.
Kemper noted that "overall index crime is down 21.5% in the subway system" just nine weeks into the new year.
Since October, 1,200 more police officers have been patrolling the subway system. Kemper said the surge has dropped crime by 13% compared to a 42% increase for the majority of 2022.
Additionally, police are responding to and issuing more summonses for quality of life violations like public urination, disorderly conduct and smoking on trains.
Data shows fare-evasion summonses are up by over 75% year-to-year, while overall summonses are up by more than 84% over the first nine weeks of 2023.
"Just about 100% of the people that commit crimes in the subway system don't pay their fare," the chief added.
Even the overhead announcements made by MTA conductors announcing the presence of police officers on platforms, according to Kemper, go "a long way."
Kemper added that those reassurances show up in MTA surveys, indicating subway riders feel safer, and they also act as a deterrent to crime.
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