By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Police officers looking into subway crimes are turning more and more to station video camera footage for help catching criminals, according to the New York Daily News.
The NYPD asked NYC Transit for surveillance footage almost 2,000 times last year, the News reported, which is an increase of over 200 requests since 2005.
After years of dysfunction and technical difficulties, NYC Transit is finally using the 3,100 cameras installed in train stations around the city for their intended purpose.
“This is another example of how we're kick-starting technology projects that have languished far too long," MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin told the paper.
The surveillance videos have been very helpful in catching subway criminals, such as Rasheem Williams, who is facing charges of robbing two people while on the train in Manhattan, the News reported.
In the first instance, Williams allegedly aimed a gun at a straphanger’s chest, saying. “Give me your cash or I will leave you bleeding,” according to the News. In the other, the robber used a box cutter to threaten a rider.
Police were able to use the NYC Transit video surveillance to help identify Williams as the man making these threats for the riders’ money.
