Big dip seen in fare-beat busts
Enforcement of turnstile jumping in New York City has plummeted since last year, but the numbers show that black and Latino straphangers are still more likely to get arrested for the crime.
Of 5,007 arrests made last year for dodging the transit fare, 90% of the suspects, or 4,500, were black or Latino. Those minorities made up about 65% of the summonses issued in 2018.
Statistics on the NYPD website show that arrests for subway fare evasion plummeted 75% from 3,296 in the final three months of 2017 to 858 in the same period of 2018.
In 2018, 3,777 black straphangers were arrested for not swiping into the subway versus 10,626 in 2017, a 64.5% drop, police said. There was a 66.5% decrease for Latinos in the same period.
"It's progress that arrests are down, but they're still disproportionately arresting black and brown people," said Queens district attorney candidate and City Councilman Rory Lancman, who has spearheaded an effort to curb fare evasion enforcement.
“The NYPD assigns its resources within the transit system based on a number of factors, including level of customer activity; crime/quality of life conditions; and citizen complaints,” police spokeswoman Detective Sophia Mason said.
“The public expects police officers to address offenses when they occur. The NYPD has also implemented a new fare evasion policy, and continues to work closely with the MTA to increase awareness with signage giving people very direct warnings that fare evasion is illegal,” she said.
Although Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. has vowed to stop prosecuting turnstile jumping, arrests are still being made in Manhattan.
Police have discretion over whether farebeaters are fined or arrested. They've been instructed to handcuff anyone who does it while on parole or probation. Anyone who has been busted for a subway infraction twice in two years or three times in eight years, will also be taken into custody. The policy doesn't make sense to Lancman.
"Why are we treating fare evasion more aggressively through the criminal justice system than we are a driver who doesn't pay a toll or is speeding,” Lancman said.
He faulted Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD for continuing to arrest people for what some have said is punishment for the poor.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has been struggling to fund crucial repairs, says farebeating costs the system $215 million every year.
"This administration has taken a dead aim at disparity by dramatically reducing fare evasion arrests and summonses,” de Blasio spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie said. “But it's naive to think that an issue as old and complex as this can be unraveled and solved by the snap of anyone's fingers.
“It'll be a challenge that this administration, the next administration and those who follow will have to constantly focus on - and we will continue to do so,” she said.