New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban unveiled a groundbreaking pilot program aimed at enhancing subway safety. The initiative introduces cutting-edge technology engineered to detect concealed weapons among commuters. Additionally, the city plans to allocate resources towards bolstering mental health support by investing in a team of dedicated clinicians to assist individuals grappling with mental illness within the transit environment.
According to the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology Act, the policy requires a mandatory 90-day waiting period for this new technology to be tested in order to be used in NYC. The clinicians will be a part of the Subway Co-Response Outreach Teams, which is a pilot program derived from a partnership with the state of New York and the MTA.
“Keeping New Yorkers safe on the subway and maintaining confidence in the system is key to ensuring that New York remains the safest big city in America,” said Adams.
The NYPD will find companies with expertise in weapons detection technology during the 90-day period, and following the allotted time, the pilot program will be implemented in some subway stations where the police will be able to determine their effectiveness.
It was announced on March 24, 2024, that the NYPD seized 450 weapons, 19 of them being illegally possessed, in the transit system this year. Last year, the NYPD seized 1,515 weapons in the subway–1,470 cutting instruments and 45 illegal firearms. This has been a significant increase from 2022 when NYPD officers seized 947 total weapons–12 cutting instruments and 35 guns.
Adams added an additional 1,000 officers to patrol the subway system to mitigate these issues, including deploying 800 more police officers as part of the administration’s “Operation Fare Play” to crack down on fare evasion.
“The brave men and women of the NYPD are averaging more than 4,500 gun arrests a year since the start of this administration and have taken well over 15,000 illegal firearms off New York City streets so far,” said NYPD Commissioner Caban.
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