NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Last week, more police officers were deployed into the subway system as part of the MTA’s plan to make train commuting safer. MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said since the officers were placed on the subways, arrests have gone up.
“Literally last week, arrests are up 95% from the comparable week a year ago and fare evasion actions and enforcement actions are up almost 120%,” Lieber told 1010 WINS. “So, we're seeing a very different law enforcement posture in the numbers.”
Lieber said the arrests were for a full range of things which include assaults and robberies but also for outstanding warrants cops catch while stopping straphangers for quality-of-life offenses, like hopping the turnstile.
The increase of police officers in the subways has gotten mixed reactions from commuters. Some riders say they feel safer with more police presence, others not so much. Another tactic against crime the MTA recently announced was full surveillance coverage in every subway car and on platforms. But that has also faced criticism from commuters who argue that the cameras only help after the fact.
“There is a camera everywhere in the system now, including, we are moving towards full camera coverage of the subway cars themselves, which we've never had before,” Lieber said. “So over time, I do think it's going to be a tremendous deterrent because there's no way to avoid arrest.”
The influx of officers is a huge financial responsibility for the state to maintain but Lieber explained that the cost is necessary to ensure safety for riders.
“The investment that the state has made in this surge of uniformed officers is going to extend into the new year,” Lieber said. “We have to get some of the activity in the system that was negative under control.”
Subway ridership has struggled to recover from a pandemic low but Lieber is confident that continued improvements to safety and the city’s path toward recovery will amplify ridership in the months ahead.
“When I became the MTA Chair at the beginning of this year, we were at 2.5 million subway riders a day,” Lieber explained. “Now we're almost at 4 million. So people are coming back to the system. They need to be safe, and they need to feel safe. And I know that the Mayor and the Governor are going to keep doing this until that's the case.”
Despite ridership nearly doubling from the beginning of the year, subway commuting is still only at 60%-70% of what it was pre-pandemic, Lieber said. But, Lieber’s projections are pointing to a return to 100%, even if it’s years away.
“In the meantime, we need to make sure that the subway and the bus and the commuter rail experience is great,” Lieber said.
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