By Thomas Tracy and Evan Simko-Bednarski
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — NYPD brass took to the subways Thursday to get first-hand feedback from straphangers and to inspect transit cops.
Every chief in the department was ordered to ride the rails in uniform, part of the NYPD’s “chiefs on the train” initiative.
“It’s a little element of surprise to make sure the cops are doing their jobs,” one high-ranking NYPD source told the Daily News. “If you know your bosses’ bosses’ boss may show up, you’re going to make sure you’re on point.”
The ride-along comes amid subway safety concerns, following a string of high-profile assaults on the system in recent months, and Gov. Hochul’s subsequent decision to deploy members of the National Guard to aid in bag checks.
NYPD’s Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said many of the passengers he spoke with told him they welcomed an increase in officers underground.
“I spoke to a woman who was just getting off work,” said Kenny, who got on the J train in Queens shortly after 7 a.m.
“She was thrilled to see us all on the train,” he said. “She said that it’s scary for her at night when she takes the train by herself, but she’s been noticing more and more cops on the subway.”
Kenny said he observed cops performing bag checks at the Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer station, and checked up on officers and Guard members at Broadway Junction in East New York.
Chiefs throughout the department posted photos of their patrols to social media, an effort to raise the visibility of the event.
“Train patrol remains a cornerstone of subway policing,” wrote Transit Bureau chief Michael Kemper, posting photos of Deputy Chief Timothy Skretch at the City Hall IRT station. “The sense of comfort that comes with seeing a cop during your subway journey is invaluable.”
An MTA spokesman said that agency chairman Janno Lieber met with a group of chiefs at the Fulton St. station in lower Manhattan.
Lieber has “full confidence” in the NYPD’s ability to keep straphangers safe, the spokesman said.
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