by Philip Dembinski

Adding to yesterday's report that fare beaters in the city's subway system have been vastly undercounted, the News wrote today that cops have gone soft on the crime. Only about 87,000 turnstile hoppers and emergency gate crashers were ticketed or arrested in 2009, the lowest number in five years. The police explain the drop, saying they're cracking down on big-time perpetrators, in lieu of handing out lots of little fines. "The department focused on the arrest of more serious offenders," said Sgt. Carlos Nieves, not explaining what constitutes a "serious offender."

Arrests (as opposed to total citations which are down 12 percent) are up a bit—from 13,000 in 2008 to 19,000 in 2009. Still, the 87,000 figure doesn't begin to measure up to the 19 million riders suspected of not swiping last year. The MTA arrived at that statistic after token booth attendants came back with a considerably lower number—around $5 million. It wants to lay off 450 of the reportedly surly agents—who don't stop the fare evaders and now aren't required to count them either—claiming offenders don't increase when booths sit empty.