As more and more straphangers report disgusting subway behavior, the NYPD's Special Victims Unit will now handle all sexual abuse incidents that happen on the subway. The Daily News reports, "Detectives from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit began looking into all sex crimes reported on subways in the borough as of Jan. 1, officials said. The program was designed to be part of the NYPD’s ongoing strategy to combat sex offenses in transit."
Thanks to smartphones, social media and simply a desire to not be victimized by assholes, the MTA and police dealing with a rising number of reports about subway sexual misconduct. But, the News explains, "More than 600 sex crimes — including sex abuse, forcible touching and public lewdness cases — are reported on the rails each year, but the department’s seasoned sex crime investigators never looked into any of them, according to police sources. 'Historically, the transit robbery squad handled those cases,' a police source said. 'That was the unit that investigated all the crimes in the subways except for homicides.'"
SVU's involvement was also mentioned last week, when the NYPD revealed that an infamous recidivist subway masturbator, East Village vegetarian chef Dan Hoyt, was arrested for masturbating at the 8th Street N/R station in Manhattan on January 12: Detectives found he was suspected of two similar incidents on January 1 and January 2 at the same station.
NYPD Transit Chief Joseph Fox told the News, "It’s a big step. The Special Victims Unit has more expertise in the field. They will be able to better connect the dots."
If you see or experience sexual misconduct in the subway (this includes seeing a masturbator, being groped, being grinded on, etc.), you can report it to the MTA and police on this website. There's also a place for you to upload photos and/or video.
