MTA cops: Crime rises on LIRR properties

Crime on Long Island Rail Road trains, platforms and property is at its highest in at least five years, with robberies more than doubling since last year as thieves target expensive portable electronic devices, MTA police say.

Total felonies from January through September, including grand larcenies and assaults, jumped 38 percent over those for the same period last year, to 142 from 103, figures from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show, even as ridership slipped.

Robbery -- the forcible taking of property -- was the felony showing the biggest increase, with 31 incidents in the first nine months of 2011. That was up sharply from 12 during the same period in 2010. Larcenies for the same comparative periods also increased, to 81 this year from 68 last year.

MTA Police Chief Michael Coan said the LIRR, with 80 million rides a year, is still "a very safe transportation system" with "very little crime."

Explaining the spike in thefts, he said, "The statistics show that customers who carry the latest personal electronic devices are increasingly being targeted. We have made 15 arrests so far in this category this year and will continue to be vigilant. I would urge all our customers to remain on alert while using such devices."

Most of the robberies, thefts and assaults took place during overnight hours, he said. Fewer than half of robberies and larcenies took place onboard trains.

MTA police have stepped up enforcement, the chief said, with officers riding trains more often. MTA police patrol all LIRR property, including stations and the railroad right of way. The department has 245 officers patrolling the LIRR.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

Coan said crimes this year have been spread throughout the system, with no particular areas of concentration.

He noted that the number of robberies from January through September was in line with the number in some recent years, and called the 12 robberies in January through September 2010 an "extremely small" number.

Ridership for January through September, meanwhile, was continuing a downward trend since 2008: The 60,096,580 rides from January through September was 1.8 percent below the same period in 2010, LIRR figures show.

LIRR spokesman Salvatore Arena said MTA police cannot pinpoint any specific initiative that led to last year's drop in felonies.

As a whole, Coan said, the LIRR remains relatively safe, with an average of less than one crime committed per day. That works out to about one felony for every 423,000 riders.

A spokesman for the MTA Police Benevolent Association declined to comment.

On Metro-North Railroad -- the LIRR's sister commuter rail system within the MTA -- felonies for the first nine months of 2011 increased 9 percent over the same period in 2010, to 116 from 106, according to MTA figures.

Overall crime on NYC Transit's subway system climbed nearly 17 percent in the first nine months of 2011 as compared with the same period last year, according to the NYPD.

Mark Epstein, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, said he has examined the railroad's numbers, but can't conclude whether they are an indication of a specific problem with crime-prevention efforts on the LIRR or "a reflection of the economy."

"It's an issue that has to be looked at," said Epstein, who said he would like to see increased safety measures, including longer hours for well-lit, indoor waiting rooms where customers can gather when it is dark. "Safety is the Number 1 concern for commuters."

Ira Greenberg, vice chairman of the MTA's Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee and the LIRR Commuter Council's representative on the MTA board, said although crime on the LIRR remains relatively low, the recent increase is cause for concern. He recommended that the LIRR make more frequent onboard announcements advising riders to keep an eye on their belongings.

"I think an awareness program might be in order," Greenberg said. "I don't know what else you can do. Police can't be everywhere . . . and you don't want people fearful of riding the system."

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) said the statistics "are sure to worry people."

McCarthy's husband, Dennis, was among six people killed and her son, Kevin, was among 19 people injured in Colin Ferguson's December 1993 shooting spree aboard an LIRR evening-rush train. In February 1995, Ferguson was convicted of multiple counts of murder and attempted murder; he is serving a sentence of 315 years and 8 months to life in the upstate Attica Correctional Facility.

"We have to have faith in our law enforcement but also be alert and use common sense as we go about our daily lives," she said.