The police department for sending 500 officers to the metros has been criticized by activists who say the police are poorly equipped to deal with people who are homeless or mentally ill.
But Tony Utano, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, welcomed the additional officials, pointing to an increase in violence against workers last month. There were 18 assaults on transport workers in January, compared to ten in January 2020, he said.
“This should be a long-term assignment, not a quick flash in the pan,” he said in a statement Sunday. ‘We need police officers in uniform, very visible, throughout stations. It should be seen regularly on the platforms and trains. ”
Mr. Utano also called on the MTA to halt its plans to leave drawing booths unmanned during lunch for station agents. He noted that a witness from the knife in Queens ran to the stand to call the police.
“If the MTA plan were to move forward, the hockey could be closed and empty,” he said.
A group of elected officials on Sunday called on police to make sure that the officers patrolling the metros were trained to deal with people in a mental crisis and that the city should also send in a small army of social workers. .
“They need to be able to address the issue of subway violence more effectively,” Manhattan Democrat Ydanis Rodriguez, chairman of the transportation committee, said in an interview.
Eric Adams, the Brooklyn City Council president and mayoral candidate, said there should also be better coordination between transit patrols and street patrols and a stronger use of state legislation that allows mentally ill people to be treated.
“Our current approach to dealing with metro crimes has failed,” Adams said. “It should not take with the subway filled with blood.”
Michael Rothfeld contribution made.