By Scoop Stanton
With the recent tragedy in Chicago made me look at the recent stories about crime in our mass transit system. Another story that recently came out also in the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) a security guard with a K9 was attacked. We already know about Bethany MaGee. And earlier this year Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska was brutally murdered by a savage on a train in Charlotte.
In New York last year Debrina Kwam was also set on fire. Then in April of this year a man persistently rapes another man on a subway. The poor victim passes away. These are just the top 10 hits. Everyday in Washington, DC I see people of all day hop the turnstile. Then there are the fights, assaults, weed smokers, and people whipping out Mr. Happy for all to see! The jurisdictions are claiming the crime rates are going down. I would take that for a grain of salt as we as well as Charlie LeDuff have been documenting “juking the stats.”
Transit systems is facing the same problem as all other law enforcement agencies; no one wants to take the job, thanks to the defund the police movement. So to augment the lack of sworn officers, DC, Chicago and other systems hire private security guards! These security guards have no powers of arrest and are not trained as extensively as police officers. And since no one respects police officers anymore, what makes you think that the presence of security will work!? Another problem is that the cops on the job now are told to be reactive, not proactive. Don’t go looking for problems. Don’t try to arrest anyone. And if you are proactive, bosses will put paperwork on you, so too many cops go “coop.” They hide out in the various back rooms in stations and wait for a call!
The solution is simple; support your officers. Tell them to make arrests and be visible. And give them the benefit of the doubt. One of the easiest ways to reduce crime is to arrest fare beaters. Many of these people jumping over the turnstile have drugs, have weapons, have active warrants, or a combination of all three. I grabbed one kid for crawling under a turnstile and it created a drug investigation in Staten Island and Harlem!
Years ago, when I was “on the job” and came on right after the merger, I met many of the “Black Patches.” These men were warriors. Riding the trains through the gates of hell. By themselves. There were no two-man patrols in uniform! These men didn’t take no shit and carried themselves accordingly. I learned how to walk with my baton out without looking Iike I wanted to take batting practice. And these men never got heavy handed. They didn’t need to!
SEVEN FIVE RADIO 