DOWNTOWN — The MTA will begin tracking repeat offenders in an effort to crack down on crime in the subway system, officials said.
The new initiative was announced at the MTA's monthly committee meeting last week, and is a collaboration between the transit authority and the NYPD Transit Bureau.
"Subway felony crime has declined dramatically over the years," NYPD Transit's Chief Joseph Fox said in a presentation last week. But, he added, repeat offenders are common in two major categories: grand larceny and sex offenses.
In 1990, there were nearly 17,500 felony crimes in the subway system, approaching about 50 per day, according to Fox's presentation.
Now there are about 2,000 per year, typically, with about 6.85 major felonies per day — and they are "on target for a lower figure" this year, Fox said.
But for August, September and October of this year, there were nearly 30 arrests for grand larcenies committed by people with prior felony arrests in the subway system, and more than 20 arrests for sex offenses committed by someone who had previously been arrested for a sex offense in the subway system, Fox said.
The Transit Bureau has already begun compiling reports on the date of arrest, the arrestee's name and identification number in the city's correctional system, the number of prior arrests in the transit system, where the crime happened, the arrest charge, and the arrestee's bail amount, Fox said.
NYPD and MTA personnel are tracking the arrestees' passage through the criminal justice system and reaching out to prosecutors, writing "vigorous" letters urging tougher sentences. They are also establishing "liaisons" with the various district attorneys' offices in each borough to focus on transit-related repeat offenders, Fox said.
One sample letter to an assistant district attorney, pertaining to a man arrested on charges of stealing copper cables from the subway system, notes that the man "has been arrested more than 60 times ... during his 25-year cable-stealing career."
"Theft of copper cable from the subway system is a serious crime that compromises the transit system's infrastructure," the letter reads. "Such theft necessitates expensive repairs paid for with public funds. Moreover, copper cable thefts can also pose safety hazards to new York City subway passengers."
They are also writing sentencing letters, Fox said, and paying special attention to cases involving assault on transit workers.
"I think we're being heard," Fox said.
