New safety app aids in arrest, TTC says
Man faces two charges after alleged assault was reported
The TTC is crediting its new smartphone app for facilitating the arrest of a man suspected of two sexual assaults on the subway system.
The agency launched the SafeTTC app last month and according to spokesperson Brad Ross this marks the first time it has aided in an arrest.
“This app actually did what we wanted it to do, it allowed a victim to report to us directly an assault. We were able to use that information to make an arrest, to get somebody off the system who was already wanted as a suspect for another assault,” he said. “I think that is powerful and is very positive.”
The first incident occurred on March 28 at York Mills station, when police allege that a man approached a 15-year-old girl from behind on an escalator and assaulted her.
The second incident took place at St. Andrew station around 12:40 p.m. on Sept. 24. Police say the man approached a 27-year-old woman from behind as she was walking up a staircase and sexually assaulted her.
Ross said the victim in the second incident reported the alleged assault via the SafeTTC app in the early morning of the following day.
The report was received by transit control, which “immediately” alerted TTC special constables, Ross said. Although the app allows users to report anonymously, the woman had supplied her phone number, which officers used to contact her. After meeting with her, the TTC reviewed surveillance footage and identified the suspect in the second incident as the same person who allegedly committed the assault in March.
The agency issued an internal alert that included a photo of the suspect. Police said that on Tuesday, transit officers at Bloor-Yonge station spotted him and arrested him.
Police announced they had charged Troy Maru, 21, with two counts of sexual assault.
He appeared in court at Old City Hall on Wednesday.
Ross said that it’s impossible to know whether the woman would have reported the alleged assault through conventional means if the SafeTTC app hadn’t been available.
But he said that the goal of the app, which also allows riders to take photos of incidents, is to make reporting easier.
The app and an accompanying public awareness campaign cost $700,000, according to the TTC. So far, more than 1,600 people have downloaded the program and used it to file more than 200 reports of harassment, soliciting, sexual assault, and other unwanted behaviour on the transit system.