Transit agency hopes to prevent repeat of last year
(Article written by Matt Purchia on the Metro web page on September 2)
PHILADELPHIA, PA –
With more than 200,000 city students heading back to school tomorrow, SEPTA hopes its ready to prevent a repeat of last year, when gangs of girls wreaked havoc on the subway and a man suffered a fatal asthma attack after a group of kids cutting class jumped him at a Center City El station.
SEPTA says it will continue with beefed up patrols on the city’s transit lines during the busy 2 to 5 p.m. after-school commute time with officers stationed at various hot spots along the Broad Street Line and Market-Frankford Line, according to spokesman Richard Maloney.
“When school resumes, our transit police are primarily assigned their hours based on the dismissal times of schools,” said SEPTA spokesman Rich Maloney. “We’ve been doing this for years.”
But according to some parents, more needs to be done to keep students and other riders safe during the rowdy after-school hours.
“There needs to be more regular patrols,” said Leona Joseph, who said her daughter was afraid to ride public transportation last year. “They need [more] officers on the subway, at the stations, and above ground near the stations.”
Joseph said her daughter was forced to wear street clothes to school last year and then change once she got there after fearing she’d become a target in her uniform.
“It was crazy,” Joseph said. “When there was an incident, there was an increased number of police for about a week, but there is not a permanent presence.”
City police will also continue monitoring known dangerous stations along the system, according to a department spokesman, who said Commissioner Charles Ramsey was going to tour many schools tomorrow to get a firsthand look.