Cops patrolling trains and National Guard soldiers inspecting bags are part of what analysts call a wave of crime-fighting “theater” on transit systems that critics predict will do little to stop criminals from preying on passengers.
A spate of deadly shootings on buses, stabbings outside subway stations and erratic vagrants shoving people onto busy train tracks pushed elected leaders along the East Coast to flood their public transit systems in recent weeks with extra security resources.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, ordered the National Guard to conduct random bag searches at subway fare gates in New York City to try and catch gun-toting crooks.
D.C.’s Metro system has armed police riding the rails to deter vagrants and other riders from getting violent during trips.
And Philadelphia’s City Council is at odds with how to address a series of shootings on the SEPTA bus system this month that has left three dead and 13 wounded.
But law enforcement veterans call the new measures in New York a “farce” that criminals are clever enough to see past.
“It’s theater because, number one, some thug from Brooklyn or the Bronx that runs back and forth to Manhattan on a train is not carrying a duffel bag with guns,” said Bernie Kerik, who served as New York City police commissioner under former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Instead, he said, crooks are stuffing pistols or knives in their pants, especially when they see the checkpoints Mrs. Hochul has set up.
The result is a public safety performance that Mr. Kerik said “is not going to reduce violence in the subway system — not one bit.”
Trouble in Gotham
The governor admitted last week that the National Guard deployment is as much about making riders feel “psychologically” safer on the subway than it is about actually making trips safer.
Several high-profile acts of violence at stations have left New Yorkers on edge, from an incident involving a postal worker who was shoved onto the tracks at Penn Station earlier this month, a 60-year-old man who was stabbed in the gut in the Bronx and a subway conductor who was slashed in the neck in February.
Recent police data showed crime on the subway was up 45% year-over-year in January, but down 13% in February after NYPD surged 1,000 officers to the stations.
Much of the violence on the rails is carried out by only a handful of people who are repeatedly arrested. NYPD said 38 individuals who were handcuffed for transit assaults last year were tied to over 1,100 other crimes throughout the city — with many officials mentioning the state’s lax bail laws as the problem.
“We find ourselves arresting the same people over and over again and we’ve got to ask ourselves why are we arresting certain people dozens of times, some people over 100 times, where are the consequences for these recidivist criminals preying on our riders?” NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Michael Kemper told local Fox affiliate WNYW.
Passengers have told local media that the uniformed Guardsmen are bringing a sense of security, but Mr. Kerik said it’d be more effective if plainclothes cops were riding the rails with commuters.
Unfortunately, he said, the NYPD is limited by its lack of manpower.
Recruitment numbers are dropping while veterans are leaving the force earlier, Mr. Kerik continued, as enthusiasm for law enforcement work is waning in the Big Apple. It’s letting police initiatives get cut in the process and putting straphangers at risk.
Badges and bad guys
Some District officials are skeptical that putting more cops on trains would solve Washington’s crime-transit problems.
John R. Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, said having uniformed officers on Metro cars and buses will likely only stop criminals from doing something right around the cops. Most crooks will wait until the officers switch train cars or bus lines before they decide to offend.
“My guess is it’s going to be a very boring job, particularly if you have officers in uniform because unless the guys are really stupid, they’re not going to go and commit the crime,” Mr. Lott told The Times.
He likened it to what he’s seen on his many trips to Brazil — cops will park squad cars and turn on their police lights in town squares to make their presence felt. But thieves will just wait for people to walk a few blocks away before they rob them of their cash and other valuables.
Metro said in a release last month the new uniformed officers are meant to “provide a sense of security and address illegal activity in real time.” Overall, the transit system said it’s seen a 14% drop in crime from 2023.
Metro also began cracking down on fare jumpers this week, thanks to a new anti-crime law passed in D.C.
Riders who skip out on paying can now face up to a $100 fine — and even be arrested — for trying to score a free ride.
Shootings periodically erupted inside the transit system last year, mainly in the District.
A Metro mechanic was shot and killed on the Potomac Avenue platform in February while trying to help a woman who was being harassed by an armed man.
A teen boy was gunned down in May after getting into an argument between the Waterfront and Navy Yard stations. In December, a 14-year-old boy was followed into the Petworth station and shot in the hip.
But Metro has managed to avoid serious incidents this year. The most high-profile death happened on March 1 when a teen girl died in a “train surfing” accident near Silver Spring.
City of brotherly bloodletting
A recent spike in shootings in and around Philadelphia’s SEPTA bus system has city leaders scrambling for the right solution.
The killings started on March 3 when a man was gunned down while getting off a bus after an argument. The next day, a 17-year-old boy was mortally wounded in a shooting that left five others injured, and a day later, a 37-year-old man was killed when he was shot in the chest aboard a bus.
Concerns reached an apex when eight high schoolers were shot while exiting a bus on March 7. All of the children are expected to survive, but it rattled city council members who represent the area.
“I am feeling powerless and shrouded by a pull of desperation,” Councilmember Anthony Phillips said during the body’s weekly meeting on March 8. He went on to say, “This is a crisis at every level,” but added that the string of shootings is “not a SEPTA problem. It is a societal problem.”
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said city leaders are looking to add more anti-violence investments as part of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s budget proposal.
SEPTA Transit Police Chief Charles Lawson said earlier this month that gun crimes are up on SEPTA buses, but other crimes are down.
“We use every legal means at our disposal to target illegal gun possession on SEPTA,” Chief Lawson said during a press event. “We’re going to target individuals concealing their identity. We’re going to target fare evasion. We’re going to target open drug use. We’re going to target every criminal code on the books.”
In Harrisburg, the state capital, Gov. Josh Shapiro rejected the idea that Philadelphia needs to deploy the National Guard to address crime concerns. But the Democratic governor did say he’s talking with Mayor Parker about sending state troopers to help in high-crime areas.
Ridership is still lagging for all three transit systems compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
In New York, the subway is at about 70% of its ridership compared to 2019, while Philadelphia’s SEPTA system is at about 65% and D.C.’s Metro is at 90% when using that same reference point.
Mr. Kerik, the former NYPD commissioner, said the new measures are less about boosting security and more about liberal leaders trying to look tough on crime after their policies created a national spike in violence in 2020 following George Floyd’s murder.
Most big cities have failed to return to the comparatively low levels of crime they enjoyed in 2019.
“This is a concern for all of them,” he said. “I can go through 20 major cities around the country that are run by Democrats, that have major surges of violent crime.”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.