With crime increasing in New York City’s subways, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) recently announced that she would deploy the state National Guard to several subway stations to tackle violent crime.
The Washington Free Beacon reported that Hochul’s order would deploy 1,000 law enforcement personnel, of which 750 are National Guard troops and 250 are officers from the State Police and Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Individuals tasked with combatting violent crime at subway stations will be responsible for tasks such as “conducting bag checks in the city’s busiest stations.”
JUST IN: Violent crime is getting so bad in New York City subways that Gov. Kathy Hochul is deploying 1,000 total National Guardsmen, state police & MTA police to patrol them.
Liberal policies have consequences.
750 members of the National Guard and 250 state troopers will now… pic.twitter.com/l6yn24CSN9
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 6, 2024
In a statement, Hochul pledged to fight against the “brazen heinous attacks” occurring in New York City’s subway stations.
“These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” the New York governor said. “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.”
Hochul’s actions resemble similar efforts taken by New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) in January 2024.
Adams previously deployed 1,000 law enforcement officers to subway stations around the Big Apple amid an increase in violent crime, including an uptick in innocent people thrown onto train tracks.
During a recent press briefing, the New York City mayor cited conversations that he’s had with frequent subway riders.
“I’m on the subway system and I speak with riders,” Adams said. “They say, ‘Eric, nothing makes us feel safer than seeing that officer at the token booth, walking through the system, walking through the trains’ and that is what we want our officers to do.”
Since January 2024, New York City has seen an increase in homicides in various subway stations. On most occasions, these attacks are carried out by individuals with mental illnesses or illegal immigrants.
The rise in crime in the Big Apple comes after more than 100,000 illegal immigrants have settled in the city since the spring of 2022.
In February 2024, a group of unlawful migrants brutally beat a pair of officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD). The perpetrators are reportedly members of a Venezuelan street gang called “Tren de Aragua.”