S.T.O.P. Condemns Hochul’s National Guard Subway Plan As ‘Abbott-like Stunt To Militarize The MTA’

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For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns Hochul’s National Guard Subway Plan As ‘Abbott-like Stunt To Militarize The MTA’ (New York, NY 3/6/2024) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, condemns Governor Hochul’s plan to deploy National Guard soldiers and New York State Police officers to check bags and patrol platforms on the New York City subway, describing the effort as a misguided attempt to militarize the MTA. The announcement comes after crime rates have dropped in New York and cities across the country after a surge during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. The initiative comes as Governors across the country have deployed national guardsmen for increasingly politicized and divisive purposes, most notably Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s deployment of guardsmen to the Mexico border.  SEE: The New York Times - National Guard and State Police Will Patrol the Subways and Check Bags https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/nyregion/subway-national-guard-police.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20240306&instance_id=116899&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=90475777&segment_id=160019&te=1&user_id=c59e02d3f1ffb99f842bd9f9328cc92e “Governor Hochul’s scheme sounds like something straight out of the mind of Governor Abbott,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “The governor continues to put PR ahead of public safety, wasting taxpayer dollars on these sorts of stunts. We shouldn’t militarize the MTA when crime rates are falling and budgets are contracting. This is a tragedy in the making, and I fear how many New Yorkers will be wrongly arrested or hurt before we recognize that soldiers have no place on the streets of democracy.” SEE: Axios - Homicides in U.S. set to drop by record numbers this year https://www.axios.com/2023/12/28/us-murder-violent-crime-rates-drop Last month, the civil rights group condemned Eric Adams’ announcement that he has “another plan” for the K5 robot that briefly patrolled the Times Square subway station last year for the NYPD. In September, S.T.O.P. revealed the MTA contracts with the artificial intelligence surveillance firm Awaait to monitor subway fare evasion. The previously unreported contract, which S.T.O.P. obtained under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, uses the MTA’s sprawling network of cameras and Awaait’s AI software to measure alleged fare evasion across the transit system.  SEE: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Condemns Reboot Of NYPD Robot https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2024/2/20/stop-condemns-reboot-of-nypd-robot Press Release - S.T.O.P. Reveals MTA AI Surveillance Contract https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/7/20/stop-reveals-mta-ai-surveillance-contract The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color. --END-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. Copyright © 2021 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.