 |
|
 Crime Prevention
| The Job of A Transit Police Officer
| ||
|
Mission | ||
|
|
 The New York City rapid transit system is one of the largest in the world, and is by far the largest in the United States. Although all parts of it are referred to as the "subway," the system is not limited to train routes and stations that are underground. Some trains run in open railroad cuts, others run at grade, and other portions of the so-called "subway" run on elevated structures that are as much as 88 feet above street level. There are 468 subway stations along 230 miles of route, and train service is provided at each station twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. On any given weekday of the year, more than 3.8 million passengers (a number greater than the entire population of Los Angeles) use the New York City subway system. The job of ensuring the safety and security of the millions of people who depend on the New York City subway belongs to a very special part of the New York City Police Department: the nearly 3,000 men and women of the Transit Bureau. It is often hard for many people to picture what a transit officer's work is like. "Usually, when people hear you're a transit cop, they always ask the same question," observed Officer Ed Bonny, a member of the Transit Bureau for the last twelve years. "They say, 'So, what do you do ride trains all day?' They're surprised when I tell them that most transit cops don't spend much time on the train at all, actually." Most Transit Bureau officers are assigned to one of the Transit Bureau's twelve Districts, which are similar to precincts. For these officers, an average tour of duty is spent providing police coverage to an assignment that may include a single subway station or several adjacent stations, depending on the time of day, the number of riders using each station, and other factors. In general, most transit officers perform their patrol in uniform, alone and on foot. If an assignment covers several smaller stations, the officer travels between them by train. Subway stations vary enormously in size; those at the largest transfer points (such as Times Square or Fulton Street) may have miles of corridors and passageways, dozens of entrances, and trains coming and going on as many as four different levels. The officers move through the stations continually, constantly on the alert for problems of any kind, and ensuring that all persons are complying both with the usual laws and also with the separate Rules of Conduct for the transit system. Like all police everywhere, transit officers respond to reports of crime. Crime on the subway, however, can be different from crime on the street. "A Transit commander is in the unique position of having to address crime that is constantly in motion," noted Deputy Inspector Louis Croce, the executive officer of the Transit Bronx Borough Command. "A pickpocket can start at Times Square and go to South Ferry in ten minutes, trying to make hits all along the way. If he were on the street, that same amount of time would keep him in the same neighborhood. In the subway, he ends up five miles from where he started without moving from the spot on the train where he is standing. And considering what Manhattan traffic is like, he can also go that distance on the train a lot faster than any car could drive it on the street. This constant movement of the criminals is unique to transit policing." While fighting subway crime is always a major concern of the Transit Bureau, much of a typical transit cop's day will be taken up with other matters of a hundred different kinds. Transit officers respond to "aided cases" of accidents, injuries, or illnesses involving passengers or subway employees. Officers are regularly assigned to "school conditions" to keep order among the estimated 300,000 students who daily ride the subway going to and from school. They provide crowd control and ensure safe passenger movement during rush hours, which can be a daunting job: for example, on the average weekday approximately 100,000 passengers will enter the subway system through the one station at Grand Central Terminal. And there are always lost children who have been separated from their parents, or tourists who need directions to the Statue of Liberty, or commuters who want to know where they can transfer from one line to another. It is this opportunity to deal with so many segments of the public on a personal level that makes the job of transit policing special to many officers. "I like the atmosphere," stated 17-year Transit veteran Officer James Roach of Manhattan's District 4. "We deal with more people, and we have to be more attuned to speaking to the public. In Transit you see an incredible mixture of all kinds of people from all over the world. It really is a big melting pot; you're always learning." A similar thought was expressed at District 34 in Coney Island by Police Officer Wendy Baez, who has been assigned there for the ten years that have passed since her graduation from the Police Academy. "I like working with the public," she said, "and you never know what you're going to see next. In Transit, every day it's something different. It's always an adventure!" |  |
 |
|