The NYPD announced that another 500 police officers will be patrolling New York City’s subway stations after four attacks in the past 24 hours have resulted in two deaths.
“We will immediately begin a wave of police to patrol above and below ground to ensure that everyone who travels in our daily transit system is not only safe, but just as important, they feel safe.” NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.
“This increase will result in an additional 500 police officers, which is a significant increase in the staff of our transit office, and they will be deployed immediately across New York City.”
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Just before midnight on Friday, an adult man was pronounced dead after being stabbed in the neck and torso on train A.
About two hours later, on Saturday morning, an unconscious 45-year-old woman with multiple stabs was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
A 67-year-old man and a 43-year-old were also stabbed on the A train in the past 24 hours, although their injuries do not appear to be life threatening.
NYPD transit chief Kathleen O’Reilly said on Saturday that at least three of the incidents appear to be connected and that the department is investigating whether the four stabbings were committed by the same individual.
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The cuts that occurred on Friday and Saturday morning came after a series of seemingly random attacks on New York subway stations.
Despite an abrupt drop in passenger numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic, violent crimes like assault, rape and homicide increased in mid-November last year compared to 2019, according to the New York Times.
Despite the rise in crime, Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted this week that the subways “have become safer and protected” compared to even more recent years.
“We had an incredible and total break in 2020, our entire lives were turned upside down, a global pandemic, a perfect storm,” de Blasio told a news conference on Tuesday.
“I am convinced that we can ensure that the subways are safe and that more and more people will return to the subways, and if we need to move more NYPD personnel to the subways, we will definitely do it.”
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NYC Transit interim president Sarah Feinberg and TWU Local 100 president Tony Utano issued a joint statement Saturday condemning the “recent horrific attacks on the subway system.”
“We have called on the city to add more police to the system and do more to help those in desperate need of mental health assistance,” said Feinberg and Utano on Saturday. “We are demanding that additional resources be put into the system to address this challenge immediately.”