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Advocates Rally Against Plan to Add 1,000 More Police Officers to City Transit

The Legal Aid Society joined fellow defenders and transit advocates out front of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office in protest of Albany’s plan to add 1,000 more police officers to enforce “quality of life” crimes at subway and bus stations to target poor New Yorkers who cannot afford transit fare, reports the New York Daily News.

Fare evasion enforcement has long disproportionately impacted communities of color. A recent study revealed that black and Latinx people shouldered over 83 percent of fare evasion arrest so far for 2019.

“We’re recognizing the fact that the MTA, [NYC Transit President] Andy Byford as well as Gov. Cuomo are trying to scapegoat communities of color in their attempt to avoid accountability for their malfunctioning and dysfunctional subway system and buses,” said Anne Oredeko, Supervising Attorney of the Racial Justice Unit at The Legal Aid Society.