Public safety crisis: New York deploys National Guard to its subway system

The Democratic administration of Kathy Hochul has been forced to resort to the National Guard to confront the public safety crisis in New York City. The governor announced Wednesday that she will deploy up to 750 uniformed National Guard personnel in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) network to combat crime.

Along with the 750 National Guard troops, another 300 New York State Police officers will join security tasks on the city's public transportation network and subways. Leading this force will be Major General Raymond Shields, who assured that "the service members of the New York National Guard are always ready to assist our partners as they ensure the safety and security of our fellow citizens."

According to a statement from the governor's office, the supplementary force will concentrate its efforts on patrolling the subway, intervening in situations and carrying out controls to prevent access by armed and potentially dangerous individuals.

"No one heading to their job or to visit family or go to a doctor appointment should worry that the person sitting next to them possesses a deadly weapon," Governor Hochul said in front of the press, according to NBC.

The decision by Democrat Kathy Hochul comes weeks after several fatal shootings occurred inside the New York City subway network. Multiple knife attacks were also recorded. In total, according to data collected by AFP, 2024 has so far seen a 50% increase in violent crimes in the public transportation network.

According to NBC, the governor's office is preparing a new package of measures to address safety in public transportation. Among them, Kathy Hochul highlighted the possibility of giving judges the power to permanently ban violent individuals from the subway network. If an individual is found guilty of perpetrating an attack within the public transport network, the state Justice Department could take measures to prevent that person from using the subway system again.