Police Sent Out Alone, Instead of in Pairs, on Subways, to “Cover More Ground” Commissioner Sewell Said

By Yehudit Garmaise

While police officers usually patrol in pairs to provide each other with back-up, on Monday, Mayor Eric Adams sent out solo the NYPD officers who cover the city’s subways.

The mayor’s new effort to spread out police coverage on mass transit is likely part of his plan to create a “ubiquitous [appearing everywhere] police presence on the subways,” as he has said.

The single patrols will help police “cover more ground by patrolling more subway cars per tour,” said Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. “We’re always looking to improve the way we work.”

“We wanted to make sure that cops were deployed to where riders feel vulnerable and that’s on the platforms and on the trains,” said MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, meanwhile, who hailed the solo patrol plan.

When the city’s largest police union objected to the plan to send out NYPD officers alone to cover the transit system, Adams said yesterday that this is not the first time the NYPD has deployed cops alone on the subway.

“For many years we had a version of what was called single patrol. I did it as a police officer,” Adams, a former transit cop said. “I wouldn’t have anyone do a job that I wouldn’t do.”

Massive stations like Fulton St. in Brooklyn will never get solo patrols, and only smaller train stations will be patrolled by lone cops, who will never be alone during the overnight hours.

While commuters may be reassured to see police cover more ground on the subways, Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said sending cops out alone will “only accelerate the exodus” of officers who are retiring and resigning.

“Solo transit patrols were abandoned because they make it harder for cops to protect straphangers and ourselves,” Lynch told the NY Daily News last week. “They’re even less effective now that criminals know there are no consequences for fighting cops and resisting arrest.”

NYPD Transit Chief Jason Wilcox responded by saying, “We will always focus on their safety.

“Cops' safety is paramount. No one knows how to navigate the subway system better than NYPD officers.”