Governor of New York Deploys National Guard to the Subway

With mounting tensions and issues rising within New York, Governor Kathy Hochul is turning towards the National Guard for support.

Hochul is deploying 750 member of the New York National Guard along with 250 state and MTA police officers to the New York City subway stations.

The deployment of the National Guard, state, and MTA police officers is in addition to the 1,000 New York City police officers ordered to the subway stations.

JUST IN: Violent crime is getting so bad in New York City subways that Gov. Kathy Hochul is deploying 1,000 total National Guardsmen, state police & MTA police to patrol them.

Liberal policies have consequences.

750 members of the National Guard and 250 state troopers will now… pic.twitter.com/l6yn24CSN9

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 6, 2024

In addition to patrolling the subway, the officers are tasked with security checks on bags within the nation’s largest transit system.

ABC News has more on Hochul’s comments:

Hochul announced the deployment of National Guard troops as part of a five-point plan to protect subway riders.

“Since taking office, I have been laser-focused on driving down subway crime and protecting New Yorkers,” Hochul said. “My five-point plan will rid our subways of violent offenders and protect all commuters and transit workers. I am sending a message to all New Yorkers: I will not stop working to keep you safe and restore your peace of mind whenever you walk through those turnstiles.”

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“The service members of the New York National Guard are always ready to assist our partners as they ensure the safety and security of our fellow citizens,” Maj. Gen. ERay Shields, adjutant general of the state National Guard, said in a statement.

New York City has seen a significant raise in crime rate within the city subway stops and on the trains themselves.

The Daily News goes into further detail about specific data regarding crime on the subway system:

The NYPD is fighting a 16% jump in assaults at city subway stops and trains.

As of Sunday, the city has seen 97 assaults in the subway system this year, 13 more than by this time last year. There were three murders in the city subways in the first two months of the year, cops said.

Recent subway assaults include a bloody scene in Brooklyn when a commuter slashed MTA conductor Alton Scott in the neck as the 59-year-old MTA employee stuck his head out of the conductor’s window at the Rockaway Ave. station in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Two weeks ago, a man was fatally shot while on board a southbound B train in the Bronx. On Tuesday, police arrested a man for allegedly stabbing a passenger onboard an uptown A train in what cops described as a hate crime.

Slashed NYC subway conductor Alton Scott vows he'll never go underground again #MTA https://t.co/SRNsszb3y8

— Xity Of Gods (@CityOfGods1) March 3, 2024

As far as the specific details of the plan, the plan will be taking a five-point approach.

NBC New York expands on the details of the plan:

The plan includes surging state personnel to help with the NYPD bag checks, proposing a bill to allow judges to ban more violent offenders from the system, adding new cameras for conductor cabins, increasing prosecutorial and law enforcement coordination and deploying more outreach teams along with existing Safe Options Support (SOS) ones.

The need for change and improvement in safety within the subway system is coming on the heels of Mayor Adams’ announcement of bag checks at specific subway stations.

ABC 7 NY adds Mayor Adams comments:

The mayor recently revealed that two high-tech weapons detection systems are in development.

“They are doing an excellent job in identifying razors, knives, scissors other sharp objects,” Adams said. “To me, that’s a low bar. I want to be able to identify a gun. We have seen some promising technology that I think in the next, you know, year we’re going to really see something that people felt was not possible.”

The governor says cameras will be on every car by the end of the year, and cameras in every conductor booth are some of the resources being considered to make the subway system safer.

The rise in crime comes on the heels of the city ending its police overtime program within the subway.

The National Guard is set to be deployed immediately in an effort to curb crime within the subway system.