The NYPD’s highest-ranking chiefs are now riding the rails as part of Mayor Eric Adams crackdown on subway crime, The Post has learned.
Under the new policy, initiated by Adams, dozens of uniformed police chiefs will be split into pairs to venture into the underground — two per eight-hour shift, police sources said.
“Mayor wants the subways to feel safe,” said one high-ranking cop. “Chiefs on the subway will spur significant presence, at the very least, at the outset. The flip side is these effects are always temporary.”
More than 100 chiefs — including one-, two-, three- and four-star chiefs — will be required to sign in and out with the NYPD Transit Bureau before and after their scheduled subway shifts, according to an email sent to NYPD brass Monday and obtained by The Post.
The email directed the top cops to “ride the trains for the duration of your transit tour and report any conditions.”
Chris Monahan, president of the Captains Endowment Association, said placing chiefs on trains was “the wrong approach in handling the situation in the subway.”
“They would be better served in their communities to tackle crime and quality of life issues. The NYPD has enough resources to address the current problems,” Monahan said in a statement.
“More emphasis should be focused on the elected officials who have decided not to prosecute violent criminals, changed laws that allow felons to go free, and decriminalized minor offenses that have kept subway ridership safe for years.”
City Hall deferrꦺed to the NYPD, which did not immediately return a rꦅequest for comment.
The new directive comes as Adams looks to combat a surge in subway violence.
The NYPD reported a slight bump in felonies on the subways in January compared to December, despite significantly lower ridership because of the Omicron variant, according to The Post’s analysis of police and MTA figures.