NEW YORK - April 17, 2012 - A New York state lawmaker is looking to put Tasers in the hands of transit workers.
When State Senator Eric Adams proposed letting commuter train and Amtrak crews carry Tasers, the measure died in committee in Albany last year.
Now the push is on to extend the legislation to bus drivers and subway conductors.
“I believe that if you’re allowing a train operator to control tons of equipment then truly we can allow them to control a small device, such as a Taser,” said Adams.
Adams, a retired New York Police Department captain, is renewing the push following a rise in assaults on transit workers. Subway workers were physically assaulted 94 times last year, up from 72 in 2010. They were also harassed - including being spit at - 1,092 times in 2011.
The senator believes a Taser would effectively deter crime and it isn’t nearly as dangerous as a gun.
“A bullet you can’t control, but a Taser, the electronic probes are not designated until the person pulls the trigger, so if you don’t hit your intended target you are not going to hit an innocent person,” Adams said.
The idea played to mixed reviews from several commuters in midtown Manhattan.
The head of the transit workers union supports the idea but the NYPD and Metropolitan Transportation Authority are against it.
Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne told the Daily News that only sergeants and certain members of the Emergency Services Unit who receive extra training carry Tasers.
MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota told the newspaper the agency’s top priority is to protect its workers but asking them to carry weapons is the wrong way to go about it.
