(NewsNation) — Despite New York Gov. Kathy Hochul calling in National Guard reinforcements to patrol New York City subways, a man was shot on a train by a passenger during a Thursday altercation.
Former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan joined NewsNation’s “Cuomo” to discuss the growing concern about safety in the city and the subway incident.
Calling the deployment of the National Guard “smoke and mirrors,” Kaplan said, “They’re just there for the optics.”
As part of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new plan to combat subway crime in New York City, 750 members of the National Guard, 250 state police personnel and MTA police will perform random checks “in the city’s busiest stations.” They’ll work with the New York Police Department to ensure no weapons are brought into the subways.
Retired NYPD Chief Wilbur Chapman noted that the National Guard was previously deployed to aid the NYPD in checking bags and searching for explosive devices following 9/11.
However, he doubts the effectiveness of conducting bag searches, citing the ease of concealing weapons in jackets or pockets.
NewsNation’s Taylor Delandro contributed to this report.
