Subway Safety Plan: NYPD team on the job

Subway safety plan

It was Day 2 of the new subway safety plan in New York City.

NEW YORK - On Day 2 of the mayor's subway safety plan being in effect, Fox 5 News reporter Lisa Evers got a first-hand look at how it is working underground. One component of the safety plan is enforcement, the other is a pathway to care for homeless and mentally ill people. The NYPD is involved with both.

A police lieutenant and his eight-member team conducted what the department calls a TOMS patrol inside the Columbus Circle Station in Manhattan. TOMS stands for train operations management system.

Deputy Inspector Kenneth Gorman explained what the team members do.

"They'll scan those cars for any kinds of issues that we need to address, whether they be law enforcement issues or people in need of services," Gorman told Fox 5 News. "They'll also try to make contact with as many members of the public and commuters as possible, and if they have any concerns they can bring those into the attention of the officers."

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Cops out in force in subway system

The NYPD has rolled out a new strategy to reduce violent crime in the subway system.

Here is how it works:

The supervising officer is positioned on the platform right where the conductor will stop the train.
The officers are spread across the platform.
They walk the platform, looking into the cars for anything or anyone that needs attention.
Officers enforce transit system rules, such as no sleeping on the trains, no smoking, and no doing drugs.

"If someone needs physical or mental health services, we're going to bring EMS services here to them and we're going to get them to a hospital," Gorman said. "If they need homeless services, we have partners with DHS or the BRC, which is a group that works exclusively in the transit system."

Day 2 Subway Safety Plan

Signs indicating the Adams' administration subway safety plan was in action were up at at least one subway station in the city.

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