Once I fell asleep while riding the subway only to be woken up by a police officer.
He tapped me on the shoulder, asked me if I was OK and told me to put away my phone, which I was holding in my hand. Dazed and half asleep, I sat there confused. I had never been woken up before, but I watched as the same officer navigated the train, waking up every single person who was asleep.
When I told my friends, one of them told me officers are now instructed to wake commuters up as a precaution. Although it is not illegal to sleep on the subway, people can easily put themselves at risk of crimes, such as sexual assault and pickpocketing, by doing so.
In January alone, the NYPD saw a 36% increase in crimes on the rails compared to a 10% decrease in citywide crimes and a 45% decrease in murders, according to officials.
The new measure is meant to keep subways safe for all commuters, but public-wide reception of the idea hasn't been too positive. Many believe it will give police another excuse to target people of color. Others simply do not see harm of catching a few Z’s on the train.
Even so, police will now be waking passengers up on their discretion. You are, for example, much more likely to be woken up if it is late at night versus during rush hour.
Cover Photo Courtesy of Steven Pisano via Flicker
Licensed using Creative Commons 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
