Crime is on the rise in public transportation. To ease the concerns of riders, police officers will be placed on the Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) starting in January 2023.
LIRR riders were questioned in August about their concerns for safety, according to WSHU, and they gave the LIRR the lowest rating for safety and crime— which was up by 73% throughout August.
“These are true victims,” MTA Police Commissioner John Mueller said. “These are people that have to go home and then they have to come back to work a lot of the time traumatized. So we’re going to be watching this very carefully. And we’re going to be advocating for consequences.”
What is the cost of this new addition?
According to the department, the new unit will be “cost neutral.” Sixty existing police officers will be transferred into the new train patrol unit.
Commuter rates have now returned to pre-pandemic numbers.
“We’ve heard what [the public has] been asking for, which is a train patrol, and a stronger and more robust presence. So that’s what this does,” Mueller said. “It’s going to be an entire package of visibility and addressing quality of life.”
Officers and their partners will begin riding the rails with commuters at 5 a.m. and will not instill fear into riders, but rather interact with passengers. Placing officers on the rails will help deter criminals, the department said.
“We want a lot of rider interaction with the officers,” Mueller said.
Hochul’s plan to install two security cameras per subway car to improve transit safety by 2025 shortly followed this announcement.
Contrary to subways, over 90% of LIRR trains have installed security cameras.
