NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The NYPD is bringing back a subway night patrol unit that was disbanded in the 1990s as it looks to curb transit crime.
The “Train Patrol Force,” or “TPF,” will focus on patrolling stations and trains in the late evening and overnight hours, when a large share of crimes occur.
An identical unit existed as part of the NYC Transit Police up until 1995, when the Transit Police merged with the NYPD and the Transit Bureau was formed.
NYPD Transit Chief Jason Wilcox announced the return of the unit at an MTA board meeting on Monday.
Wilcox said the unit is in addition to the Subway Safety Task Force launched in March, as well as other initiatives to combat subway crime, which “continues to grow this year” as ridership increases following a major pandemic dip.
With 54% of total subway crime occurring on trains and 40% happening during the late evening and overnight hours, Wilcox said the TPF is “an idea we felt we needed to return to.”
“We have created a new Train Patrol Force, or TPF, that will perform dedicated, targeted and visible train patrols on the late evening and overnight hours,” Wilcox told the MTA board.
“The TPF is not a new concept,” he added. “It was a type of transit patrol done in years past.”
Wilcox noted that Mayor Eric Adams worked on the Train Patrol Force when he was a city transit cop.
“Focused enforcement is an integral part of our effort to fight crime in the subway system,” Wilcox said, adding that overall subway arrests are up 67% this year—3,194 arrests so far in 2022 compared to 1,911 at the same point in 2021.
Transit crime is up 62.5% overall year-to-year, according to the latest NYPD data.
Former NYPD Transit Chief Joe Fox told 1010 WINS on Tuesday that bringing back the unit is a smart strategy. He said, “the late night train patrols were very successful back in the 90s.”
“There’s 24 hours in the clock, and crime doesn’t sleep,” Fox said.
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