Cops attacked as assault on NYC subway skyrockets 19%

So far this year, there have been 255 felony assaults in the transit system, marking a 19 percent increase over last year. Of those, 36 percent targeted NYPD officers or Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employees, the outlet reported. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the situation has worsened significantly.

The current number of subway assaults represents a 66 percent increase over numbers from 2019.

Some have pointed to several factors fueling the rise, including the growing presence of mentally ill individuals in the subway system and weaknesses in the judicial system. Retired NYPD detective and John Jay College adjunct professor Michael Alcazar told reporters that these factors are contributing to the number of assaults.

“It’s all these things, the homeless population, the EDPs (Emotionally Disturbed People), the warmer weather, prosecutors not able to keep them in jail,” he said. “It emboldens the criminals. They get out and they’re back at it the next day.”

Despite the rise in assaults, overall transit crime is down 6 percent this year. Incidents involving murder, shootings, robbery, burglary, and grand larceny have declined, according to the data cited by the outlet. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch credited the decrease to heightened police presence throughout the subway system, including deploying two officers on every train overnight and assigning hundreds more to overtime patrols.

One former cop speculated that the stronger police presence may have contributed to the rise in assaults against officers. “People don’t like when police enforce drinking and minor offenses and they get aggressive,” the retired NYPD detective said.