Daily News | SEPTA is touting new ‘outreach specialists’ amid public frustration with crime and disorder
SEPTA CEO Leslie S. Richard exchanges fist bumps with staff members of Scotlandyard, one of the three security companies the transit authority has hired.Leaders of Philadelphia’s public transit system on Thursday confronted a nagging perception that city subways are unsafe by detailing steps they’re taking to fight crime and disorder in stations and aboard trains.
“They are not replacements for law enforcement,” Richards said. “But they do act as a force multiplier.”For months, riders have complained of rampant disorder, including smoking on trains and platforms, open use of IV drugs, public urination, feces, garbage, and fare-jumping — particularly on the El, which passes through Kensington, the locus of the region’s opioid crisis.
SEPTA has a one-year contract for extra personnel from Extrity Services; Scotlandyard Security Services; and the Philadelphia ProtectionUnit, with an option to renew for two more years. Earlier this week, security issues dominated a 2½-hour City Council hearing on SEPTA’s budget. Lawmakers pushed the agency to hire more police officers and do more to clear out people who break conduct rules by smoking or worse.
The situation is complicating SEPTA’s efforts to recover from the pandemic, Richards and other leaders have acknowledged. Average ridership is now at 53% of pre-COVID levels — about 520,000 people on a typical weekday.
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