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New York police officers on the subway
Photo: Stephanie Keith / Bloomberg / Getty Images
The state is stepping up security measures after a spike in crime in the New York subway.
A total of 1,000 additional members of the National Guard and the New York Police Department would be deployed, said Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday.
These officers will patrol the largest stations and be used to check bags.
In recent weeks, New York City's subway system, used by millions of people every day, has seen numerous fatal gunshot and knife attacks, as well as incidents in which passengers were pushed onto the tracks.
Most recently, a fatal incident made headlines in mid-February: a person was killed by gunfire in a subway station in the middle of rush hour and five other passengers were injured.
Authorities blamed rival youth groups for the violence.
The metro in the US east coast metropolis is considered the city's lifeline.
Metro has recently become safer
The subway network had actually become safer recently - this is the result of an analysis by the New York Times.
During the corona pandemic, the number of violent crimes in the local transport system increased; in mid-2022 there was around one violent crime for every million journeys on the subway.
Since then, overall crime has fallen - by almost three percent in 2023 compared to the previous year.
The number of daily riders increased by 14 percent, making the likelihood of becoming a victim of violent crime even lower.
The downward trend stalled earlier this year when the number of serious crimes on the transit system rose nearly 50 percent in January compared to the same period last year.
In response, the deployment of armed police officers in the subway network has already been significantly increased.
fzs/dpa/afp/reuters