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Senior Member
Muggings don't signal crime epidemic, TTC says
Commission defends safety record despite eight robberies in two weeks on subway, including swarmings by groups of teens
JEFF GRAY
From Monday's Globe and Mail
November 5, 2007 at 5:28 AM EST
A series of muggings at subway stations in recent weeks is not a sign that crime on the public transit system is getting out of control, Toronto Transit Commission officials say.
In the past two weeks, police have reported at least eight instances in which people were mugged, many of them swarmed by groups of teens at subway stations - or while riding subway trains - across the city.
TTC chairman Adam Giambrone acknowledged that the list of reported crimes - including an incident at Kennedy Station on Tuesday afternoon when four young men attacked two others over a cellphone - was longer than he would expect.
Two or three a week would not be unusual, he said.
"My understanding is that crime is not growing exponentially. But at the commission, we have various security issues," Mr. Giambrone said, adding that he is notified of every incident. "Proportionately," he said, "I believe crime is actually steady or falling on the system."
While the TTC would not release figures for 2007, the crime rate on the transit system rose in 2006. The agency recorded 1,601 crimes of all descriptions against passengers in 2006, for a crime rate of 0.36 crimes per 100,000 riders, an increase from 0.29 in 2005 and 0.24 in 2004. The rates more than double when crimes against TTC staff are included.
An assault or other crime against a driver or a collector happens at least every other day, Mr. Giambrone said. Incidents range from a slap in the face to more serious attacks: In May, a TTC collector was stabbed at Lawrence Station and his booth set on fire.
However, the centre of the TTC's crime-fighting initiatives - plans to add 8,500 new surveillance cameras on vehicles and in subway stations - has run into controversy, and not just because of the $33.6-million cost, $6.4-million of which is being covered by Ottawa.
The province's Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner launched an investigation into the TTC's camera program after a complaint from the London-based advocacy group Privacy International.
The group argues that the TTC's plans are "disproportionate" and violate privacy laws, and that the transit agency has ignored studies suggesting the usefulness of cameras in fighting crime is "marginal."
Toronto police, who have been experimenting with surveillance cameras in certain high-crime areas around the city, say that cameras are useful in investigations and that footage has helped lead to arrests in killings, sexual assaults, armed robberies and even the rescue of abducted children.
In April, TTC cameras recorded a stabbing at Kennedy subway station, and a 26-year-old man was arrested a few days later.
The cameras are not the only security measures the TTC is bringing in. In addition to being more mindful of safety concerns as it refurbishes or builds new subway stations, the transit agency is dramatically increasing its complement of special constables - who are unarmed but have police-like powers on TTC property.
The agency has added 22 in the past two years, bringing the force to 98, with plans - not yet approved by the city's number crunchers - to add another 20 in 2008.
Eventually, it hopes to have 174 special constables patrolling subway stations and bus and streetcar routes.
Mugged on the subway
A scan of recent police crime reports shows a level of violent crime on the TTC that some may find disturbing.
Wilson
Oct. 20, 10 p.m. 13-year-old boy beaten and robbed of wallet, iPod, phone, sweater and shoes.
Yorkdale
Oct. 21, 9:15 p.m. 26-year-old man robbed of cash.
Wellesley
Oct. 25, 5:30 p.m. 15-year-old girl fends off attempt to steal backpack.
Sherbourne
Oct. 20, 12:30 p.m. 18-year-old man robbed of phone and metropass.
Broadview
Oct. 24, 2:45 p.m. 13-year-old girl robbed of iPod.
Oct. 29, 9:30 p.m. 17-year-old girl robbed of a bag.
Kennedy
Oct. 29, 12:10 a.m. Three teenage males robbed of cash and a phone between stations.
Oct. 30, 4 p.m. When a 17- and 20-year-old male refused to hand over a phone, they were thrown down and kicked repeatedly.
Commission defends safety record despite eight robberies in two weeks on subway, including swarmings by groups of teens
JEFF GRAY
From Monday's Globe and Mail
November 5, 2007 at 5:28 AM EST
A series of muggings at subway stations in recent weeks is not a sign that crime on the public transit system is getting out of control, Toronto Transit Commission officials say.
In the past two weeks, police have reported at least eight instances in which people were mugged, many of them swarmed by groups of teens at subway stations - or while riding subway trains - across the city.
TTC chairman Adam Giambrone acknowledged that the list of reported crimes - including an incident at Kennedy Station on Tuesday afternoon when four young men attacked two others over a cellphone - was longer than he would expect.
Two or three a week would not be unusual, he said.
"My understanding is that crime is not growing exponentially. But at the commission, we have various security issues," Mr. Giambrone said, adding that he is notified of every incident. "Proportionately," he said, "I believe crime is actually steady or falling on the system."
While the TTC would not release figures for 2007, the crime rate on the transit system rose in 2006. The agency recorded 1,601 crimes of all descriptions against passengers in 2006, for a crime rate of 0.36 crimes per 100,000 riders, an increase from 0.29 in 2005 and 0.24 in 2004. The rates more than double when crimes against TTC staff are included.
An assault or other crime against a driver or a collector happens at least every other day, Mr. Giambrone said. Incidents range from a slap in the face to more serious attacks: In May, a TTC collector was stabbed at Lawrence Station and his booth set on fire.
However, the centre of the TTC's crime-fighting initiatives - plans to add 8,500 new surveillance cameras on vehicles and in subway stations - has run into controversy, and not just because of the $33.6-million cost, $6.4-million of which is being covered by Ottawa.
The province's Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner launched an investigation into the TTC's camera program after a complaint from the London-based advocacy group Privacy International.
The group argues that the TTC's plans are "disproportionate" and violate privacy laws, and that the transit agency has ignored studies suggesting the usefulness of cameras in fighting crime is "marginal."
Toronto police, who have been experimenting with surveillance cameras in certain high-crime areas around the city, say that cameras are useful in investigations and that footage has helped lead to arrests in killings, sexual assaults, armed robberies and even the rescue of abducted children.
In April, TTC cameras recorded a stabbing at Kennedy subway station, and a 26-year-old man was arrested a few days later.
The cameras are not the only security measures the TTC is bringing in. In addition to being more mindful of safety concerns as it refurbishes or builds new subway stations, the transit agency is dramatically increasing its complement of special constables - who are unarmed but have police-like powers on TTC property.
The agency has added 22 in the past two years, bringing the force to 98, with plans - not yet approved by the city's number crunchers - to add another 20 in 2008.
Eventually, it hopes to have 174 special constables patrolling subway stations and bus and streetcar routes.
Mugged on the subway
A scan of recent police crime reports shows a level of violent crime on the TTC that some may find disturbing.
Wilson
Oct. 20, 10 p.m. 13-year-old boy beaten and robbed of wallet, iPod, phone, sweater and shoes.
Yorkdale
Oct. 21, 9:15 p.m. 26-year-old man robbed of cash.
Wellesley
Oct. 25, 5:30 p.m. 15-year-old girl fends off attempt to steal backpack.
Sherbourne
Oct. 20, 12:30 p.m. 18-year-old man robbed of phone and metropass.
Broadview
Oct. 24, 2:45 p.m. 13-year-old girl robbed of iPod.
Oct. 29, 9:30 p.m. 17-year-old girl robbed of a bag.
Kennedy
Oct. 29, 12:10 a.m. Three teenage males robbed of cash and a phone between stations.
Oct. 30, 4 p.m. When a 17- and 20-year-old male refused to hand over a phone, they were thrown down and kicked repeatedly.
