Report on nonworking cameras before shooting at Brooklyn subway finds poor staffing, training, communication at MTA

Insufficient staffing, training, and communication at the MTA contributed to surveillance cameras being down when a mass shooter opened fire at a Brooklyn subway station in April, wounding 10 people, a report from a transit watchdog said.

The head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority' subway system called the findings “unfair and misleading,” and noted that other surveillance video captured by the MTA helped lead to the arrest of the suspected shooter, Frank James.

The final report released Thursday by the Office of the MTA Inspector General found that several shortfalls at New York City Transit — a division of the MTA — "significantly delayed" both the discovery that the video cameras at the 36th Street Station in Sunset Park were not working in the days leading up to the April 12 shooting, and their repair.

Although the station had cameras that were linked to a surveillance network covering three stations, the investigation, which included interviews with 40 people, found that the network went down on April 8 — four days before the shooting. The outage was not discovered for more than 24 hours, and, because of limited staffing, repairs did not begin until April 11, the day before the attack, according to the report.

The exact cause of the outage remains unknown, but investigators said there was no evidence that it was intentional.

The suspect, James, 63, is facing federal charges, including terrorism, for the shooting, which led Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA to launch a plan to install cameras on all subway trains.

But Acting MTA Inspector General Elizabeth Keating suggested such measures didn’t go far enough.

“This is about maintenance. Investment in technology is critical but without a matching commitment to maintenance, the gains from the investment are fleeting," Keating said in a statement. "The staffing shortfall in maintenance positions is real and a much broader problem impacting NYC Transit operations."

The report noted that an employee’s notification about the outage “went unnoticed” until investigators for the inspector general office began their probe. It also found that the employees responsible for maintaining the camera network equipment were “insufficiently trained” and that maintenance protocols were “deficient.”

The inspector general office made several recommendations to the MTA, including that it have “adequate staffing to meet repair standards,” that it improve training and communications protocols, and that it establish better maintenance standards for the camera network — including preventive maintenance, which is currently “scheduled on an ad hoc basis.”

In his written response to investigators, New York City Transit president Richard Davey said the recommendations were being addressed, but also noted that the "MTA has finite resources, and prioritizing investments in one area requires reducing investment in others.”

Davey also pointed out that the transit agency had more than 10,000 cameras covering 472 subway stations, and that, on the day of the shooting, 99.6% of the cameras were working properly. He said the “robust and redundant camera network” supplied police with images of the shooter that helped lead to his arrest.

“These cameras continue to effectively perform their core function — to assist in investigations and help solve crimes,” Davey wrote.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.