By Suzie Ziegler
NEW YORK — Subway riders in the Big Apple may soon see some high-ranking NYPD staff patrolling the subway system alongside beat cops. It’s part of a new effort that aims to boost public safety after a rash of subway crime.
As of this week, the NYPD will place two chiefs in the subway system for every eight-hour shift, three shifts a day, the New York Daily News reported. The policy appears to apply to the NYPD’s 110 chiefs, from deputy chiefs to the chief of department, according to the report.
“Each Chief providing coverage is asked to sign into and out of a Transit command at the beginning and end of their scheduled transit patrol tour, check in with the Operations Unit and the Transit Bureau Joint Command Center at the beginning of the tour, ride the trains for the duration of your transit tour and report any conditions to both the Operations Unit and the TB JACC,” reads an internal NYPD memo obtained by the Daily News.
Not everyone was happy with the announcement. The police union that represents NYPD chiefs, the Captains Endowment Association, said the move was “the wrong approach.”
“NYPD executives seems to be the wrong approach in handling the situation in the subway. They would be better served in their communities to tackle crime and quality of life issues. The NYPD has enough resources to address the current problems,” said Chris Monahan, the union president, on Tuesday. “More emphasis should be focused on the elected officials who have decided not to prosecute violent criminals, changed laws that allow felons to go free and decriminalized minor offenses that have kept subway ridership safe for years.”
Major crimes in the subway are up 81% in 2022, according to the Daily News. The number of robberies has nearly doubled, from 60 this time last year to 118 in 2022.