After three recent murders of livery cab drivers in the Bronx and Yonkers, the NYPD has announced "Operation Safe Cab," to remind livery cab drivers that they can sign up for the Taxi/Livery Robbery Inspection Program and affix a decal on their cars—"These decals alert police on patrol that the vehicle is enrolled in the safety program and that the driver has authorized police to stop the car and check on the driver’s well being."
The decal also means that the car's passenger can be searched. Sheikh Sackor, a livery cab driver who does have a camera and a "trouble light" in his car, told the NY Times, "I believe it might be a deterrent to troublemakers. It might be a means to make them have a second thought... People have criminal minds and see you are carrying cash. Because you never know who you are picking up and the mind-set of the person you are picking up."
However, while the stop-and-search is agreed to by the driver, NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said, "If there is no reason to believe any wrongdoing is going on, a driver cannot subject a passenger to a police search just because there is a sticker on his car." Still, Federation of Taxi Drivers president Fernando Mateo told the Daily News, "Of course, some passengers are going to be in a rush, but you know what? Safety first."
