Every now and then, high-profile incidents involving a transit worker on one side and a disgruntled and crazy rider on the other make the headlines. We’ve seen a bus driver murdered and other workers assaulted. Even outside of a crime — which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years — transit workers often bear the brunt of the irate public. They are yelled at and spit upon. One State Senator now wants transit workers to be better prepared for the abuse, but his suggestion is, well, a bit extreme.
As The Daily News reported today. Sen. Eric Adams of Brooklyn wants to arm transit workers with tasers, something most rank-and-file cops aren’t even permitted to carry in New York City. The TWU rushed to embrace this measure. “Equipping and training our members to responsibly use Tasers will end the assaults that are currently plaguing our members,” union head John Samuelsen said. “Additionally, it will act as a strong deterrent against crime against our riders on the buses and trains.”
Adams’ bill has rightfully languished in committee for a while, but he is amending it to allow bus drivers to carry tasers as well. In response, the TWU, reports Pete Donohue, will be featuring the bill at an upcoming conference on transit worker safety. But does this really sound like a good idea or just a political talking point? Giving cops tasers is generally a recipe for trouble; I can’t imagine how straphangers would feel with thousands of armed transit workers carrying these things.
The NYPD and the MTA, however, are not buying it, and can you blame them? “The MTA makes protecting our transit personnel a top priority in everything we do,” MTA chief Joe Lhota said. “However, the proposed legislation is the wrong way to go about protecting MTA employees. Asking them to carry weapons would cross the line into law enforcement, a function that is best left to the NYPD.”
18 comments
This is New York not Texas!
Seriously, arming MTA employees is rediculous at besst & dangerous at worst. Just imagine two workers or a worker & a passenger getting into a dispute over something petty. How long until the taser is used? not long I’ll bet. Also tasers can kill although that is not it’s purpus.
It’s not a bad idea from the TWU’s perspective at all. Like the NYPD, they regard themselves as a special class that lords over the lowly plebes who ride the trains and especially buses. It will only take a little bit of Scalia-escque legal acrobatics to justify even the most egregious of tasings, whether it’s a Trayvon Martin or a little old lady, so the State probably has little to worry about from a financial and legal standpoint.
And there is little reason to think the TWU will prove more abusive than the NYPD, considering transit is probably less attractive to people who want to experience the ersatz phallic pleasure of handling a projectile weapon. Well, at least for now. 😐
“they regard themselves as a special class that lords over the lowly plebes who ride the trains and especially buses.”
is that the alcohol talking?
How about conflict deescalation and enhanced self defense training. It might be cheaper, and will yield benefits for transit workers outside of work.
Conflict prevention maybe? Let trained inspectors handle fare collection duties and let vulnerable bus drivers drive buses without having to worry.
The MTA scheme of making vulnerable drivers do collection is stupid.
For non SBS buses, unless the fare collectors are onboard articulated buses, the costs are prohibitive. This could speed up service by enforcing an entrance through the back and exit from the front scheme.
It’s not prohibitive at all, if the fines are high enough to cover the costs of enforcement. Hell, it could be slightly profitable. As I’ve said before, some evasion is a good thing then.
Doesn’t enter through the front and exit through the back make more sense?
On the contrary. Because most buses do not get inspected, the cost of inspectors is lower than the costs of the longer travel time due to slow passenger boarding.
Tasers use electricity and are thus not environmentally friendly. I’d go with crossbows.
Isn’t BoltBus already trademarked?
Nah, sawed-off shottys throwing depleted uranium.
They can rent those out to supplement the meager their 100K incomes.
That will mess up the bus pretty bad.
Actually, as long as they’re properly trained, I could see this as being a real plus for station booth agents, who would likely benefit from a non-lethal weapon in the event of an emergency.
Now, it wouldn’t be great to give it to EVERY MTA employee, otherwise janitors would zap litterers and taggers. But I could see how it would help in proper circumstances.
the scary part of this story is that an elected official has actually taken action to attempt to make this a reality.
its one thing to run on the ideology and grandstand about it, but to actually make real efforts to arm the MTA? thats nuts!
most of the people probably shouldnt have their own car keys, much less a lethal weapon!
how about training them to be good at their jobs so people dont get so irate that they even feel the urge to yell or spit? how about bus drivers that open the back doors for the chorus? stop for the person waiting at the bus stop? and be polite and safe?
these guys create the very hazards they think they need to be protected from!
the day the mta worker of any rank has a taser will be the last day i take a train ride anywhere.
Some days I’m glad I’m moving far out.
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How about making MTA employees impervious to abuse by putting them in helmets and padded uniforms? We could offer a modest annual uniform allowance at a fraction of the price of weaponry.