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Things the NYPD Does (or Doesn't Do) in the Subways
By
Jen Chung
Published May 8, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 8, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Thing #1: They will no longer man the anti-terror booths near "sensitive areas." The NYPD placed "Omega Booths" at 32 subway stations near underwater subway tunnels a few years ago, but now the NYPD will have police officers just ride the trains between the stations to observe the suspicious activity in order to cutdown on overtime costs, according to the NY Post. This also gives the Post reason to freak out: "That means ends of tunnels under the East and Harlem rivers and other waterways will not be continually monitored by an on-scene officer, but instead could go without surveillance for up to two hours in some cases." Now, just imagine that with a bunch of exclamation points. Now, what will happen to the booths? Will the MTA convert them to places their employees cannot be in?
Thing #2: They spy on you to up meet their ticket quotas. A Bronx captain has been asking officers to meet a quota of 12 summonses a month, leading some officers to lurk around subway stations near Yankee Stadium just waiting for someone to break the law. The Daily News reports that they hide in "marked transit offices, janitor closets and bathrooms - peering out doors and windows to catch turnstile jumpers and other scofflaws." There are probably a lot of people peeing in those stations, but we'd guess other scofflaws include people littering their Metrocards and/or people taking pictures (the police never seem to remember it's legal).
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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