Subway Crime Wave Blamed On Vandals, Gadgets

Paolo Mastrangelo's Flickr

With station agents removed from many subway entrances, small-time crooks have been filling the void. Their scam is simple: they vandalize the MetroCard vending machine, then sell swipes to commuters who don't want to bother going around to another entrance with a functional machine. Hey, it's a living, and it sure beats token sucking. And the city profits too, because cops are writing lots of summonses to riders who, instead of buying a swipe, jump the turnstile instead.

Though the number of summonses issued for fare beating has remained flat this year, at about 50,000, the NYPD is reporting a spike in arrests. (Only suspects with arrest warrants or more than five fare-evasion tickets in the past year get arrested for fare evasion.) The Daily News reports that cops have been targeting stations where MetroCard vending machines are frequently vandalized, and have collared 15,700 fare beaters so far this year, an 11% increase over last year. Too bad they can't, you know, arrest the vandals.

The NYPD also says grand larcenies are trending. In August, there were 14.6% more arrests for grand larceny than in the same month a year ago, and there's an overall increase of 2.5% so far this year. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne attributes the underground crime wave to sheeple fiddling with their trendy new gadgets by the subway doors, giving thieves the perfect opportunity to grab and dash as the doors are closing.

"We often see spikes in thefts of popular items, especially in teen-on-teen crime after school," Browne tells the Journal (paywall). "For example, when eight-ball jackets were popular among teens, we saw a spike in their thefts. Same thing when certain expensive sneakers became popular. In more recent years, Sidekicks, cellphones and iPhones were targeted." We kind of love that the NYPD spokesman's cultural references take us back to the Arsenio Hall era, by way of David Puddy.

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By John Del Signore in News on September 28, 2010 9:49 AM

Comments [rss]

Kanger

Ha - I can't believe he mentioned 8 Ball Jackets.

John L

So the machines are getting vandalized and instead of catching the people vandalizing the machines they're arresting the poor saps trying to get to work on time. I'm not excusing the behavior of the fare evaders but shouldn't the priority be to arrest the guys vandalizing the machines? But then that's only one arrest and that doesn't do much for their quota I guess. In the time that it would take to do some surveillance they could catch the vandals they could issue numerous fare evaders summonses and get that quota fulfilled. It's a win-win for the NYPD and the vandals, only the poor saps trying to get to work who get frustrated and jump the turnstile lose. It almost seems like entrapment.

And before you guys start, I'm not condoning jumping the turnstile but if the goal is for everyone to pay their fare then the cops should just stand by the turnstiles when they know the machines are broken instead of hiding and jumping out when people jump the turnstile in frustration. The NYPD's "gotcha!" game has to stop but it won't and can't because of these stupid quotas.

ocm123

John L, if the police catch someone vandalizing a machine, he/she will be arrested. It's just hard to catch someone in the act of committing this crime.

It's been shown that people who intend to commit crimes or cause havoc on subways almost always are fare-evaders. They are also more likely than the average citizens to be wanted for another more serious crime, so stopping turnstile jumpers after the act allows officers to find out if the individual has a warrant out for his/her arrest. In fact, once Bill Bratton directed his transit cops to go after turnstile jumpers, the rate of other subways crimes decreased dramatically. This is one of the prototypical ways the "broken windows" theory has been utilized by the police department.

John L

I think the "broken windows" theory is long past its usefulness in NYC. At one time when lawless was more prevalent I think it was useful but now most of these tactics are just being used to harass citizens.

random transplant

So in addition to being unable to count the money they have with an audit, they can't even keep the machines they use to get more money safe?

Can somebody please step in and save the MTA from itself yet?

jamieob256

Amazing! Who'd a thunk crime would go up when the station agents/token booth clerks were removed. Not to mention the unlit stairwells at the 86th Street/Lexington Avenue station.

ladyjane

"same things when certain expensive sneakers became popular"

It's New York so uhh I guess anything can happen, but I'd definitely like to see someone snatch my shoes off my feet on the subway...