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Shortly after Gov. Kathy Hochul introduced on Wednesday that tons of of National Guard soldiers would be deployed to patrol the New York Metropolis subway system and examine riders’ luggage, her workplace made an adjustment: Troopers looking out luggage wouldn’t carry lengthy weapons.
The change was ordered by Ms. Hochul on Wednesday for implementation on Thursday, based on a spokesman for the governor. Ms. Hochul issued a directive that Nationwide Guard members can be prohibited from carrying lengthy weapons at bag-check stations, he stated. Troopers not working on the stations would presumably be allowed to hold them.
Donna Lieberman, the chief director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, known as the ban on lengthy weapons at bag-checking stations a “reduction,” however stated the Guard’s presence underground remained “an pointless overreaction primarily based on worry, not info.”
“Deploying army personnel to the subways is not going to make New Yorkers really feel secure,” Ms. Lieberman stated. “It’ll, sadly, create an ideal storm for pressure, escalation and additional criminalization of Black and brown New Yorkers.”
Early photographs of the Nationwide Guard’s deployment confirmed troopers standing close to turnstiles within the subterranean system, sporting camouflage and army gear and holding lengthy weapons.
Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, stated the transfer to flood the system with reinforcements — 750 members of the New York Nationwide Guard, and an extra 250 personnel from the State Police and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — would assist commuters and guests really feel secure.
Subway security, a perpetual concern for New Yorkers, has been a difficult situation for public officers, who may be as delicate to the notion that mass transit is harmful as they’re to an precise rise in crime.
In February, following a forty five p.c spike in main crimes within the first month of the 12 months in contrast with the identical interval final 12 months, Mayor Eric Adams ordered an extra 1,000 law enforcement officials into the subway system. Reported crime charges within the system declined that month, based on metropolis knowledge, and the general rise in main crimes for the 12 months as of March 3 was 13 p.c, Police Division knowledge reveals.
Ms. Hochul’s announcement this week drew criticism from public officers and from some members of her own party.
Jumaane N. Williams, the town’s public advocate, warned that the plan would “criminalize the general public on public transit.” Emily Gallagher, an assemblywoman and democratic socialist from Brooklyn, said that Ms. Hochul’s move was a “ham-fisted and authoritarian response” that validated “G.O.P. propaganda about city lawlessness in an election 12 months.”
John Chell, the Police Division’s chief of patrol, cited latest statistics suggesting that transit crime had dropped.
“Our transit system isn’t a ‘struggle’ zone!” he wrote on X.
