Understood. Every time there is a violent assault on people using public transport, public servants feel they have to do something. However, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (Democratic) Reaction to the spike in crime on New York City’s transit system It can make the problem worse or create entirely new problems.
Yes, security forces are helpful during natural disasters. However, most guards are not military police and are not trained in police procedures, the Constitution, and related civil liberties laws. If Hochul were to deploy armed New York National Guard troops in New York City’s subways, it would be a recipe for disaster. That tragedy could easily be avoided by giving Mayor Eric Adams the funds and resources he needs to redeploy existing NYPD personnel and strengthen public safety. on the transportation system.
America’s National Guard units are part of the military’s “total force” policy adopted after the Vietnam War when the draft ended and an all-volunteer military was created. This includes the armored, infantry, artillery, and engineer units needed to augment regular army forces during wars such as the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Provides lots of combat power. They are trained, first and foremost, to fight, kill, and win in armed conflicts.
I know this because I was a member of the United States Guards and Reserves for 11 years. That’s what my fellow unit members and I are trained to do: fight foreign enemies with the goal of killing, surviving, and winning the battle.
Is that really the state of mass transit in New York City? Is there a spike in physical assaults within this system? Yes. But has it become a war zone requiring the threat of a deadly military response?
no.
As NBC News report Just last week, “subway crime is still up 13% this year compared to 2023, and assaults against the transit system are up 11%.” We are investigating 86 assault cases.
This is not an increase that would require sending at least 750 military personnel trained to fight intense wars on foreign battlefields.
Hochul also accepts the argument advanced by Donald Trump that the National Guard be used to address, by definition, legal and humanitarian policy problems.
As PBS report Late last year, while campaigning in Iowa ahead of the 2024 Iowa Republican primary, President Trump called New York City and Chicago “dens of crime.” He has actively encouraged Texas Governor Greg Abbott to defy federal authorities, deploy the Texas National Guard to the Eagle Pass area of the state, and use measures such as razor wire to deter illegal crossings. Ta. By reflexively deploying the New York National Guard to New York City’s subways, she asserts that the United States is incapable of maintaining law and order in American cities, much as authoritarian regimes in Russia and China do in their societies. It justifies President Trump’s claim that the military is necessary.
Hochul also ignores the fact that the NYPD’s already constitutionally questionable random bag searches have done nothing to stop this attack. . Most of them involve individuals using melee weapons (knives, shanks, etc.) or other hand-held items that can be easily hidden in jackets or pockets. Baggage screening is simply a physical manifestation of “security theater.”
The only thing Hochul is doing right is directing some New York State Police officers to help beef up security. At least those police understand the law and the Constitution, even if they don’t always follow it. Asking nearly 1,000 security personnel trained to fight wars to become armed police without proper training will worsen rather than improve the problems in our transportation system.
Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute, spent 11 years in the National Guard and Reserve.
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