The 750 National Guard soldiers Gov. Kathy Hochul deployed to New York City’s subway last week to do rider bag checks are ill-equipped to respond to the crimes New Yorkers are actually concerned about, former law enforcement and police officials said.
The soldiers lack arrest powers, aren’t trained in handcuffing techniques or local policing laws, and may not be able to communicate with NYPD and MTA officers in an emergency, experts said.
And while the NYPD is the chief law enforcement agency underground, neither police officials nor the National Guard answered questions about how the agencies will coordinate their operations.
“Are [National Guard soldiers] trained to get into those subway cars to help out with all the safety procedures that the New York City transit police are trained to deal with?” asked Bill Bratton, who served twice as the city’s police commissioner. “I’m not all that sure any of their activities are going to have a direct impact on what is effectively causing the problems in the subway system as it relates to crime and disorder.”
Hochul last week ordered the National Guard soldiers and 250 MTA police and state troopers to help NYPD officers check randomly selected bags in an effort to make people feel safer after a series of high-profile subway crimes. The National Guard isn’t commenting on its new role, but the governor has said her intention is to restore safety while preserving civil liberties.
Still, experts said it’s unclear whether soldiers in camouflage will make a dent in crime through bag checks.
Brandon del Pozo, a former NYPD precinct commander who served in the National Guard with three states, said the soldiers’ role in searching bags might be futile. “Nobody is carrying a weapon in a bag that’s subject to search,” said del Pozo, who wrote a piece in urban policy journal Vital City criticizing the policy. Weapons are generally carried in waistbands or pockets, not backpacks, he said.
Del Pozo helped implement…
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