New York beefs up efforts to crack down on transit crime: U.S. media

Police officers stand guard at a subway station in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, the United States, May 6, 2020. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

New York City has been reeling from several high-profile violent crimes in the past few months, including in its subway system, prompting officials to enhance their crime fighting strategies.

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- New York state and city officials are bolstering their efforts to combat crime and mental illness in New York City's subway system with an increased police presence and new training for officers on engaging with homeless individuals, U.S. media reported on Saturday.

The new initiatives will include a significant investment from the state's public emergency fund to support a surge of roughly 1,200 additional overtime officer shifts on subway platforms and trains each day, according to a CNN report.

Transit police officers will be deployed at four major commuter railroad hubs, including Penn Station, Grand Central Station, Atlantic Terminal, and Sutphin-Archer (Jamaica) Station, which will free up roughly 100 New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers for deployments at other transit locations.

New York City has been reeling from several high-profile violent crimes in the past few months, including in its subway system, prompting officials to enhance their crime fighting strategies, said the report.

As of last Monday, crime in the city's subway system was up more than 41 percent with 1,813 incidents happening so far this year, up from 1,282 during the same time period last year, according to NYPD statistics.