Transit Policing: Is it Necessary? The Making of America's Police-State Capitol
Co-Author: Kyle Williams
Last month, New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced it will hire 500 new transit police officers to resolve the “quality of life” issues in NYC subway system. These 500 new cops will assist the NYPD Transit Bureau. The Bureau is responsible for the safety and security of MTA’s passengers, initiated by contract with the MTA under Mayor Guliani. This might sound like a policy straight out of the infamous Batman trilogy, however, it is becoming a stark reality for the victims of the MTA police: the homeless and “fare-beaters”, of which, the police appear to target primarily people of color.
New Yorkers and concerned citizens throughout the country are outraged at the policies enacted by Governor Cuomo. Last week, police officers were seen brawling with what appears to be high school students at the Jay-Street Metro-Tech Station’s platform in Downtown Brooklyn. Adding insult to injury; MTA transit cops were then seen ambushing a young Black man (who allegedly evaded the subway system’s $2.75 fare) with guns. Many people are describing his arrest as alarming.
Last weekend, hundreds of New Yorkers took to the streets to protest the subway system’s police-state policy. They are asking leaders like Mayor DeBlasio and Governor Cuomo to reverse the policy. Despite the appearance of police harassment, people are also taking to social media to question the MTA’s policy on camera installations at turn styles.
Fare-Free System
Other transit agencies like Buffalo, New York operate a light rail system with a free-fare zone and in September 2018, Dunkirk, France officials have launched a free bus system. The landlocked country of Luxembourg, adjacent to Belgium and Germany, is looking to implement a nation-wide free transit system in 2020.
The question of a fare-free MTA system seems far-fetched; especially since the organization is projected to operate in a deficit through 2021.
However, although MTA’s 2019-2022 budget suggests that there’s a loss in revenue due to fare-evasion, the budget does not disclose its monetary loss. In fact, MTA includes fare-evasion with a wide range of other impacts to revenue loss, such as “planned subway service changes to accommodate construction and maintenance/repair work and increases in telecommuting and the use of e-commerce have all impacted utilization levels.”
The bigger question for now remains whether investments into transit cops to fight fare-evasions is even worth-while. The starting salary for an MTA Police officer is $42,000. Upon completing 7 years of service the top pay is $100,368. A cost-benefit analysis is not necessary to determine, the efforts to stop fare-evaders is costly, time-consuming, and raises discrimination and aggressive policing concerns.
“Enough Money to Hire Cops, and Install Cameras, but not Enough to Fix a Failing Transit System.”
We are at a time where capital investments into the City’s subway system are critical, and such costly efforts into fare-evading remains futile for fixing the MTA. Protests in Chile have received world attention due to the government announcing a hike in transit fares. Some conservatives and police allies do not agree with the recent protests in NYC, calling it unwarranted.
Furthermore, important questions remain. Why did MTA choose transit policing as an expensive solution to avoid a budget deficit? What can we do as fellow citizens to resolve the issue of persistent and overly aggressive victimization by police force for what seems to be a trivial crime? Should the MTA consider an overall system-wide free fare? Please let us know in the comments.