NYPD cops are going to wake up sleeping subway riders because they have become easy targets amid a crime spike on the rails, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Wednesday.
“In the subway situation, we need to have the public’s help with shared responsibility,” Bratton said at a press conference announcing January crime statistics. “We think almost 50 percent of reported crimes in the subway involve sleeping passengers.”
Bratton said he understands that many straphangers are exhausted, but he said his officers will still be instructed to wake up anyone who is asleep.
“One of the areas we are going to focus on is, subways are not for sleeping,” he said.
“A lot of people are tired, they work very hard, but our officers are going to be instructed to start waking people up.”
By grabbing some shut-eye on the train, passengers are making themselves easy targets for thieves and other nefarious individuals, Bratton said.
“By sleeping, you make yourself, as reflected in our crime stats, a very easy victim to lose your phone, to lose your wallet, to lose some of your clothing items,” he insisted. “You’re much more susceptible.”
Bratton even said riders could be “the subject of a sexual assault” if they doze off.
“So why put yourself at that risk?” he asked.
There were 25 more felony assaults on the subways in January 2016 than during the same month in 2015, officials said.
Subway crimes have climbed to 6.65 incidents per day, from 4.8 during the same time last year.
In response, the department will be dispatching more cops — both uniformed and plainclothes — underground.
“Anytime we see a rise in any crime category in New York City we take affirmative steps to make sure that we correct the problem,” NYPD Chief of Department James O’Neill said.
“What you’re going to be seeing over the next few couple weeks is additional uniforms down in the subway.
“What you’re not going to be seeing is additional plainclothes personnel assigned down there,” O’Neill quipped.
Riders at the 42nd Street A/C/E station weren’t on board with cops waking them up.
Kiley McDonald, 28, an actress living in Washington Heights, admitted that sleeping on the train can be “dangerous,” especially for women.
“But if it’s rush hour and you’re headed home from work, I don’t think they should have that rule,” she said.
Latrice James, 43, of Harlem, said, “You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s none of their business if I close my eyes on the train. It’s not a crime.
“If an officer tells me to open my eyes, he’s going to get more than an earful.”
Additional reporting by Danika Fears