New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a special deployment of New York Police Department officers as the city resumes its 24/7 subway service.
During a press conference on Monday, de Blasio said the 250 special deployment officers would be dispatched in addition to the existing 2,500 transit officers and the February surge of 500 officers.
“Today, we’re announcing an additional 250 officers on a special deployment on top of the previous 500 on top of the previous 2,500. … This will now be the largest NYPD transit force … in over 25 years,” he said.
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De Blasio said the surge would send “a very powerful message that we’re putting in the resources every day, whatever it takes to get the job done.” He also called on the Metro Transit Authority to fill vacancies in its own police force.
“Yeah, there was a pandemic, but guess what? We managed to fill police vacancies [and] we managed to fill firefighter vacancies, so the MTA needs to step up. They need to hire. They need to fill those vacancies, and … they’ve got to focus the police force where the riders are,” he said, noting the “vast majority” of Metropolitan Transportation Authority riders are in New York City, not its surrounding suburbs.
During a time of increased anti-police protests and activism following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, many officers retired early or called in sick from work in a phenomenon known as the “blue flu.” Many NYPD officers circulated a pair of fliers urging colleagues to skip work ahead of July 4, 2020, arguing police officers must “stand as one” after being “vilified” by some activists.
De Blasio aligned himself with racial justice activists amid a wave of nationwide protests against excessive use of force, particularly against minorities, that followed Floyd’s death while in police custody in May 2020. The mayor announced last June a budget proposal that would slash NYPD funding by $1 billion.
“I’m excited to say we have a plan that can achieve real reform, that can achieve real redistribution, while at the same time ensure that we keep our city safe, while we make sure that our officers are on patrol around where we need them around this city,” the mayor said of the plan.
De Blasio announced a restructuring of the NYPD’s budget earlier in June, emphasizing that money would be redirected to youth initiatives.
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The New York City subway system suffered a precipitous drop in ridership due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Total estimated ridership was down over 45% every day this week as compared with the pre-pandemic equivalent day, according to data collected by the MTA.
A representative for the MTA did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
