AGENCY TESTIMONY
MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper testifies on efforts to combat subway surfing
0:24:41
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3 min
Michael Kemper, Chief Security Officer of the MTA, provides testimony on the dangerous trend of subway surfing and the multi-faceted approach the MTA is taking to address it. He highlights the collaboration with other city agencies, the "Ride Inside, Stay Alive" campaign, and efforts to remove subway surfing content from social media platforms.
- 6 deaths and 7 serious injuries have occurred this year due to subway surfing
- The MTA is working with NYPD to increase enforcement and deterrence, including the use of drones and home visits
- Over 10,000 posts featuring subway surfing have been flagged for deletion on social media platforms
Michael Kemper
0:24:41
Good morning.
0:24:42
Thank you for having us.
0:24:44
Especially committee chairs, chair Brooks Powers, chair Joseph, chair Salam, and chair Stevens, to public advocate Williams, and to all committee members, thank you.
0:24:56
I'm Michael Kemper, chief security officer of the MTA, and I'm joined by special counsel Jeremy Fiegelsen to my right, as well as Frank Joseph, acting chief of staff for the New York City Transit to my left.
0:25:09
Today's hearing is an important one.
0:25:11
I think we all agree on the need to stop the dangerous trend of people of all ages, but especially young people, riding outside of subway cars.
0:25:19
This year alone, 6 New Yorkers have tragically died doing it, up from 5 last year, which includes Staten Island, and 7 people have been seriously injured.
0:25:31
Even though 350,000 kids use our system daily and the overwhelming majority do the right thing, any loss of life is unacceptable.
0:25:40
So our team at the MTA is taking a broad approach to get that number down to 0.
0:25:45
We're working closely with City Hall, the New York City Department of Education, and the NYPD because none of us can solve this problem alone.
0:25:53
Together, we launched the student led ride inside, stay alive campaign more than a year ago.
0:26:00
All the announcements, graphics, and social media outreach were developed by young people for young people to help us get through to that 0.1% who wanna ride outside of train cars in 10 feet.
0:26:13
To serve as a deterrent, my former colleagues at the NYPD also started deploying additional offices to stations on outdoor elevated lines where riding outside trains is most common and using drones to spot so called subway surfers in action.
0:26:30
I hesitate to use that term since it glorifies the behavior.
0:26:35
But police are also doing home visits with young people known to ride outside of trains because it's truly that many of them are recidivists.
0:26:44
Perhaps most important, the MTA is pressing social media companies to take down viral videos of this dangerous behavior.
0:26:52
We are searching for this kind of content every day.
0:26:55
And so far, we flagged more than 10,000 posts to be deleted on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
0:27:05
That work will continue.
0:27:07
We believe news organizations also have a role to play here, and we've asked them to avoid sharing images of riders on top of trains that can encourage people to try it themselves.
0:27:19
Bottom line, we want riders to stay where they belong, safely inside trains and on platforms, which is another issue.
0:27:27
For the last few years, all over the system, there's been a growing problem with people going into locations where they should not be, including on tracks.
0:27:36
Signs are there for a reason.
0:27:38
When you trespass or break the rules, bad things can and will happen.
0:27:44
So we need your help, the council's help, to get the word out that these risky behaviors are dangerous, not only for the people engaging in them, but also for MTA workers and first responders.
0:27:55
We are willing to explore all avenues to get through to young people and their parents, and we look forward to working with the council.
0:28:03
We are now happy to take any questions.
