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The DNA Personal Alarm is
not only a protective device for personal
safety but in cases like Transit assaults the
alarm will scare away people causing trouble or
assaulting other passengers. Every transit
system in the USA and Canada face problems of
violence daily and do not have many answers.
Wouldn’t you rather be prepared if you are
faced with criminal activity on transit system
. In addition to the transit system itself
people and particularly women face possible
assault activity go to and from in the parking
lots or to their
homes.
In Canada’s largest city,
TTC officials are insisting Toronto transit is
safe even though the number of criminal charges
occurring in the system rose 19 per cent in
2007.
Reports of crime
increased 13 per cent last year over
2006.
The increase in criminal
charges is a reflection of higher rider ship,
more transit police and more security
monitoring through cameras, said TTC
spokesperson Brad Ross.
"It could be one incident
ends up with multiple charges attached," he
said, adding that as transit police become more
visible, people inevitably make more reports to
them.
It was the second year in
a row that crime on the TTC exceeded the
five-year average of just over 3,000 incidents.
There were 3,872 incidents tallied in 2007,
compared with 2,609 back in 2003 – a 44.6 per
cent increase.
USA Crime
Crime on public transit
is receiving increasing attention in the United
States. The analysis shows that crime on
transit has increased about in proportion to
transit rider ship, and that it is concentrated
in both space and time. Crimes occur mostly on
routes which traverse areas having high crime
rates in general. Although most transit crimes
occur at hours when rider ship is high, the
rates of occurrence are
disproportionately high during the evening
hours.
One of the USA major
cities has no answer to solving violence in the
subway system. A report a few years ago tells a
story that would only be worse
today.
Crime in the New York
Subway
The Transit Bureau
employs some 2,500 officers to continue keeping
the subway safe, but of course they can't be
everywhere at all times and it's in the emptier
stations, late at night, where riders are most
at risk of being robbed by force. Of
course, when it comes to pick pocketing, the
busy stations are much worse. Rush hour
-- which has commuters packed in like sardines
-- is an open invitation for wallet snatching,
so it's no surprise that the NYPD stats show
that grand larcenies are more common in
high-traffic stations like Port Authority,
Times Square, Penn Station, Grand Central
Station, and the 59th Street and Lexington
station.
One of the recent blows
to the safety of today's New York subway user
is the loss of many booth attendants. The
MTA has been tightening the purse stringers to
avoid further fare hikes, so many stations are
not manned by a breathing human anymore.
When you look at the major incidents in the
subway, it has been this person who has raised
the alarm. In lieu of booth attendants, each
station has one or more machines that people
can use to purchase Metrocards with cash or
credit cards. This creates yet another
ripe opportunity for
muggers.
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