NYC subway crime down amid NYPD transit safety initiative

NEW YORK (NewsNation) — After a surge in high-profile violent incidents in 2022, crime in New York City’s mass transit system has declined after Mayor Eric Adams increased patrols in the underground transit system.

The New York Police Department announced Tuesday that major crimes in New York’s subway system were down 9.1% in February, compared to the same time last year — part of a larger 19.4% decline so far in 2023.

Overall, crime in the subway system was up more than 40%. But, in the first two months of 2023, the NYPD said it managed to cut crime by a significant margin. Between January and February, the NYPD said robberies were down 20%, larcenies were down 23% and felony assaults were down 18%.

Meanwhile, arrests are up this year.

Nearly four million people ride the city’s subway system every day, so it is a major artery in the public transit system, but many regular riders complained it had become too dirty and dangerous.

In October 2022, the NYPD launched an aggressive initiative called “Cops, Cameras, and Care” which redeployed about 1,200 officers to subway platforms and stops with higher crime rates. They targeted enforcement strategies, including fare evasion, which has seen busts triple. 

The increased police visibility discourages criminals from targeting riders.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said customer satisfaction concerning safety and security has reached 62%, but even with the improvements, there are no plans to change anything.

The MTA said the last four months have been nothing less than astounding.

“Those four months have been the safest four months in the New York City subway system on record,” said Janno Lieber, chairman of the MTA.

Charlton D’souza of Passengers United, an advocacy group for commuters, said he isn’t convinced the NYPD numbers reflect real improvement.

“These statistics are from last year’s crime leader. So I feel like that doesn’t really tell the true story,” D’souza said. “What we need to know is how many crimes are happening each day, where are they happening, what lines are they happening and what stations are they happening.”

On average, about five major crimes still happen underground within the system every day. Ideally, the NYPD and MTA would like to get that number down. But keep in mind that’s among 3.9 million people so it’s not a large number at all.

An MTA survey of riders conducted in February saw customers more at ease with riding the rails. Overall satisfaction with safety and security on trains ticked up by 2%, while the same metric in stations increased by 1%. Both now sit at 62% overall.

Meanwhile, conductors now make announcements on the train whenever they pull into a station where police are on patrol in case anyone needs immediate assistance.

While the city hasn’t announced how much it’s costing to fund this program, officers are working overtime because the NYPD is shortstaffed in its patrol division.

NewsNation affiliate WPIX contribute to this report.