‘Our Transit System Is Not a ‘War’ Zone!’: New York Gov. Hochul’s Subway Crime Plan That Includes Deploying National Guard Sparks Some Pushback
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s safety initiative to stymie crime on the New York City subways and protect passengers has been met with unexpected criticism from some Democrats and officials who feel her plan is counterproductive.
Hochul, a Democrat, recently announced a five-point subway safety plan following several recent attacks.
Alfredo Troche Jr. received eight stitches on his hand after being stabbed at a Bronx subway station on Thursday, hours after Hochul announced the plan.
Troche told CBS News New York that “she (Hochul) has to deploy, either National Guard … it’s an epidemic.”
In fact, Hochul’s plan is to add police overtime pay and deploy the National Guard and mental illness outreach programs.
In a press release, she touted the plan will “rid our subways of violent offenders and protect all commuters and transit workers,” noting that “since taking office, I have been laser-focused on driving down subway crime and protecting New Yorkers.”
However, a top New York Police official has said Hochul’s plan, which also involves deploying 1,000 officers from the New York State Police, doesn’t address the root causes of crime in the subway system.
John Chell, the department’s chief of patrol, posted a lengthy message on X following Hochul’s announcement, claiming transit crime is down 12 percent “in the last five weeks because of extra cops deployed, a planned commitment by” his department and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Just last week, Adams announced an order to boost security protocols to keep weapons and guns off of trains, including adding more police officers and re-instituting bag checks. “Our transit system is not a ‘war’ zone!” Chell said, adding that the governor’s idea to implement bag checks wasn’t anything new and has “been around since 2005.”
Chell proposed his own solution, advocating for state leaders to focus on repealing or revising criminal justice laws. These laws, he says, hinder the ability to mandate bail for offenders.
Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat, opined that Hochul’s plan is a “ham-fisted and authoritarian response to several terrible incidents (even as the crime rate is falling) that does nothing to foster real public safety but validates GOP propaganda about urban lawlessness in an election year.”
“In other words, a predictable move by this Governor,” Gallagher said via X.
Although the overall index crime in New York slightly increased by 0.1 percent in 2021, with 344,171 crimes reported, overall crime has remained near historic lows. In fact, there were 343,870 index crimes reported in 2020, according to the New York State Crime Report. The state’s crime rate declined by 24.9 percent when comparing 2012 and 2021.
State officials and the FBI use seven index crime categories as indicators of overall crime trends, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and property crimes, like burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.
Still, Hochul plans to deploy 250 officers from the New York State Police and the MTA Police Department in support of the NYPD. Additionally, 750 National Guard members will be made available under law enforcement supervision.
She noted in her plan that a proposed bill seeks to give judges the power to ban individuals convicted of assault within the transit system from using MTA services. Other measures include installing new cameras for security, enhancing coordination between district attorneys and law enforcement, while expanding the Subway Co-Response Outreach (SCOUT) teams.
SCOUT teams are used to “address the most severe cases of mental health crisis within the subway system,” according to a press release from the governor’s office.
Meanwhile, the mayor and the governor appear to be at odds when it comes to addressing crime.
Mayor Adams, who sought additional state funds for police overtime to boost subway security, was absent during Gov. Hochul’s announcement of an alternative plan, The New York Times reported. Despite Hochul’s prior commitment of tens of millions of dollars to police overtime, Adams skipped the announcement, citing a conflict.
Hochul’s announcement comes amid an ongoing issue with crime on public transportation across the nation.
A new study released in August showed the United States “leads in the number of attacks and fatalities on public transportation passengers and employees in a group of economically advanced countries,” according to the report from the Mineta Transportation Institute. The trend is “a relatively recent phenomenon,” the study stated.
In Philadelphia, there has been a surge in crime on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority system, in which violent assaults and robberies have increased by 80 percent since 2019.
According to another study, CBS New York Investigates found that the busiest stations, such as Times Square, Columbus Circle, and Penn Station, have consistently experienced a high number of felony assaults over the past six years.