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There's a special address by Mayor Robert Wagner on meeting the problem of crime in the subways my fellow citizens I'm going to talk to you about crime on the subways and what we are doing about it and like we are going to do immediately the criminal is a enemy of society he is your enemy and mine when the mugger the hoodlum other young punk lashes out whoever their victims are wherever this may take place in the city they are attacking each and every one of us the rising crime rate across the country has deeply concerned me as it has you the fact is that our city wide increase in crime is substantially less than in many other major cities but that fact gives you on the little comfort there is still more crime each month and each year the herd limbs and the young toughs seem to get bolder and tougher committing more and more crimes of violence I have now given the and he crime war and effort top priority among undertakings the fight against crime must be the first call on our results is and I'm going to be available for my part in it twenty four hours a day yes crime is a nationwide concern today but New York City can and will lead the way in this fight as it has in so many other ways over the years this will be reflected in a stepped up attack on the context pushes and criminal Addicks Wheeler press harder and harder our efforts against all forms of lawlessness which breed fear and insecurity among our citizens. Hoodlum Zen types who prey on innocent people are going to be taught a lesson a lesson they need police commissioner Mike Murphy has his autos he is going to have all of the help and support he needs to carry those orders out the area of action about which we are talking tonight is the subways and has been a major increase in the rate of serious crime in our subways we have developed an emergency program to deal with the roughnecks and the wont packs of young brutes and status who have terrorized and tall amended subway riders our subway system is the most vital part of our city's mass transportation system it provides about five million rides a day to the people of our city because it operates mostly within a confined space and mostly underground subway system presents special security problems in terms of the opportunity it gives to criminal and violent instincts some days ago I issued this basic instruction to those working on the problem to combat the rising crime rate in the subways both emergency and long range measures much the undertaken the emergency measures must be substantial the long range measures must be sound tonight I'm prepared to tell you the major moves we have decided upon and have made and on making immediately. These steps like others in the mass effort scheduled against crime will cost a great deal of money but no price tag can be placed on safety the essential cost must be paid no matter what it is it is easy enough to talk about safety and security in the subways in pushbutton terms but there is no pushbutton formula for security against the kind of crime plaguing our subways we had to adopt measures which would directly deter crime on the scene and catch the criminals in the act no electronic equipment can do this only policemen can approximately four million seven hundred thousand rides are taken on the subways each day of these the average number between six A.M. and six P.M. is three million six hundred eighty six thousand the average number between six P.M. and six A.M. the next morning is eight hundred and one hundred nine thousand the average number between midnight and six am is one hundred twenty one thousand we know that when the big crowds ride relatively few crimes of violence are committed however there is a high rate of vandalism during the afternoon hours when the schools let out that period of course requires extensive policing but the safety of our citizens is most threatened in the later hours from eight o'clock in the evening on that is the trouble period. Now let's take a look at some of the thing is we have six thousand six hundred cars operating on the subways on a twenty four hour schedule and eight thousand train trips doing a twenty four hour day there are approximately four hundred and eighty subway systems stations the transit police consists of one thousand two hundred and twelve men and offices this is the force which around the clock seven days a week twelve months a year pro-tax the transit system its passengers and property of those one thousand two hundred twelve men one hundred were added by my recent authorization on Thursday of last week that was one hundred men were officially busted in the duty it isn't easy to recruit policeman either for the transit system of for the regular police force you can't put an ad in the paper today and put a policeman on duty tomorrow police recruits must meet high standards of health education and intelligence they must be able to grasp a vast range of duties and to understand the law that they are to enforce the fine line between the right of the public to be safe and secure and the constitutionally guaranteed rights of individuals the selection and training of men and women to who can be entrusted with bads club and gun is a great responsibility a transit policeman who lost his nerve or his temper in a crowded train could start a disastrous panic. Our basic decision was and is to reinforce the subway police force of fashion flee to assign a policeman armed with night stick and revolver through patrol every train and patrol that train through every car and policeman similarly patrol at every subway station during these night hours for this purpose we have established an emergency police shift to go on duty beginning at eight pm and go off duty at four am this shift will go on duty for the first time this Wednesday night at eight pm. The special shift will be in addition to the regular shifts of the transit police force which will continue to cover the station platforms Tobel said and passageways on a twenty four hour schedule to man the special shifts seven days a week will require about eight hundred additional regular men on a permanent basis Ordinarily it might take as much as twenty four months to muster in and train eight hundred additional men but at my direction we have made special arrangements for a speeded up schedule of selection examination and training at the police academy so that these eight hundred men will be ready in approximately three months or one eighth the ordinary time. As a temporary expedient I have authorized and directed police commissioner Murthy to arrange for one thousand additional City policeman from among his present for us to be assigned to overtime duty on an off day basis seven days a week of this total approximately six hundred will be assigned to subway police today to make up the emergency shift to which I have referred as a further reinforcement to the special night shift the transit police force will supply approximately two hundred additional men on an overtime basis commission America will utilize the remainder of the thousand authorized for his department for such police study as he deems necessary to strengthen security measures on the streets of the city while the trains are in the station this charging and taking on passengers policemen on patrol on the trains will this mountain observe the platforms each subway station will be constantly patrolled during the night shift by policeman and addition I have proposed and it has been agreed that the following steps would be taken one during the nine rush hours as the passengers thin out red cars will be closed and the doors locked effectively decreasing the danger of crime in sparsely occupied cars two during the night hours of Zenner a entrances and passageways into subway stations will be closed this too will result in greater safety and security. Three effect of this week on City Housing Authority Police correction offices and sanitation police traveling to and from work are on assignment in uniform will be able to travel freely and courage in them to use the subways and by their presence in uniform to assist and discouraging crime in the subways firemen and City policemen are already authorized to travel free on the subways these measures are being taken immediately as I said the special crime fighters shift will be on duty this Wednesday night beginning at eight P.M. for experimental programs have been agreed upon and either are or will be in test operation promptly these are one the use of television monitors on subway platforms to a pushbutton alarm system connecting the change both with both transcendent City police headquarters three an alarm system and each car connected to the modem and scan thought to a two way radio communication system unable in the modem and on the moving train to summon assistance from police headquarters the cost of all the actions I have described is going to be a substantial It is calculated that the overtime pay temporarily required for the special and he crime shift will be one million five hundred thousand dollars a month for the city police and three hundred thousand dollars for the transit police that amounts to one million eight hundred thousand dollars per month. The money will have to be secured for this purpose we have already said their fiscal problem I am determined however to see that the cost is met. Actually the cost of security is going to go up further in the months ahead and in the next fiscal year that cost must be paid and I am sure that all of our citizens will join in affirming this determination certainly we are going to reverse the upward trend of serious crimes on the subways you can be sure of that there was one more major development on this front I'm now conferring with police commissioner Murphy and appropriate officials of the transit authority regarding the merger of the Transit Authority police with the New York City police the law against crime is one law whether it is on the subways around the streets I believe it can best be conducted under a unified command the command of police commission number three I want to see this unification work out in the very very near future crime on the subways is only one restricted aspect of the problem crime in the city as a whole involves a great deal more than police measures as President Johnson told Congress in his recent special message on crime the problems run deep and will not yield to quick and easy answers. We must identify and eliminate the causes of criminal activity whether they lie in the environment around us or deep in the nature of individual men yet as President Johnson also said crime will not wait while we pull it up by the roots we must arrest and reverse the trend towards lawlessness this is my purpose and determination as mayor of this city I will be returning again and again to the subject in the days ahead with further action programs and grants against crime and criminals I want to say one thing tonight however which is pertinent to our efforts against crime both in the subways and also in the city as a home and that is a matter of citizen responsibility the effort against crime demands your support it is not enough to complain you too must act you too must help advance the cause of safety in the subways and as a city at lives our citizens must stop covering up their eyes in the face of crime I know that unless a person is trained in combat he or she is helpless before a determined thug with a knife or a gun but each new yawk must be and is in fact his brother's keeper we must all be good neighbors black white yellow and brown of all queens and the nominations. Law and Order is our first line of defense for our families and ourselves let each criminal know that if he violates the law or commits an act of violence on one of us he commits said on all of us and that all of us are united in our determination to see that he is apprehended and gets his just desserts this is my objective this is my resolve and that of every official of the city government who is concerned with this problem I am wholly dedicated to this purpose I ask for your help with it we cannot fail without it we cannot succeed.