Expert opinion: Will National Guard and random bag searches stop subway crime?

safety is a top of mind for so many New Yorkers. Governor Kathy Hochul has deployed in the National Guard as we've been talking about this morning to subway stations across the city and the N. Y. P. D. Is using social media to promote its crime fighting efforts to the public. But what is really working and what needs to change? Joining us now to discuss all that Richard S. Zito, CBS is law enforcement contributor and former deputy commissioner with the N. Y. P. D. Richard. Good to see you as always. Let's start with the subways. We've been talking with some strap hangers this morning. Elijah Westbrook is in Columbus Circle. There's been some mixed reaction to the National Guard being in the subway stations. But let's talk about two things. A. What are your thoughts on that? And B. What's the real issue here? I think the real issue that's a that's a good split on the question. Um, what is the real issue? Real issues fear. Um, and then the real question is, um, do soldiers in the subway add to fear or subtract from fear? And, um, it's not really comforting to see people with long guns in the subway. Um, so people react like what's going on here. Um, but what's behind putting them in the subway, Chris? You know what? What gets the soldiers in the subway also fear? Because when you look at the numbers, crime is up the last 10 days or so, about 16.7% over that same period last year. That's a total of seven crimes. When you take the statistic and turn it into a number, um, you're looking at seven crimes and the National Guard in the subway. So are they necessary? So you're feeling on the I mean, we again, I agree with what you're saying as it's you're in the subways. You're seeing the long guns, although Governor has mentioned maybe not having the long guns below ground. Um, but I mean, we've gotten used to it in airports. You know, you get used to police officers. I go to pick up my son, you know, who's in elementary school and there's a there's a cop there and there's cop cars out front. I mean, certain things you do become used to. Um, we talk about these crime numbers underground and it's obviously a very big issue. Um, so what can the M. T. A. Do first? It's okay. More N. Y. P. D. Officers down there. Now the governor takes this action of deploying the National Guard down there. Crime numbers keep rising. Um, again, I guess if you were to parcel this out about how many millions of people are on the subways every day and only seven incidents, it speaks to a little bit of a different level. But what do you what's next? I mean, what do you do? You know, that's it. That's um, it's a real question. What do you do? What do you do to combat fear and and have the millions of people know that statistically speaking, they're very, very safe on the subway. But if you've been on the subway recently, you'll feel unsafe. I ride the subway regularly and you know, it's been dirtier to commuters. Um, it feels unsafe, but the reality is a little bit different. But your reality and fear fear changes your reality. Um, so what do you do next? The thing you do next, in my opinion, is campaign to explain what's actually going on right now. We've got a heated environment. The N. Y. P. D. Is a little angry at the governor. Um, the governor's reacting to what the M. P. M. T. A. Needs. But the commuters keep going to work every day, and we all keep riding the subway. So what we need, I think is a clear explanation of the crime numbers, what's being done and what what kind of visible presence will help? Because I guess, as we mentioned, as I alluded to before, you can, you can basically interpret numbers any which way you want. It's like polls. Polls come out and polls can be broken down and no matter what, what side of the aisle you're on or or how you feel about the subject. Let me ask you this about the social media that the N. Y. P. D. Is using to promote and engage with the public and basically promote its efforts of combating crime. What do you make of this strategy? I know you just mentioned a second ago. It's about letting people know that they don't need to be afraid. And I guess this all plays into that hand. Yeah, it's you know, it's a real challenge for an agency like the N. Y. P. D. To get your own narrative out there. You know, social media is a rough game. It's like pick up basketball with elbows and stepping on sneakers. You know, um, if you don't get your narrative out, you're on the defense. Um, and the P. D. Has taken an aggressive stance now that has pros and it has cons, you know, um, they're the cons are you can make terrible mistakes when you're learning to do this. You get a judge's name wrong. Okay? Um, not great. The judge gets threats. You made a mistake. Um, you can't really pull it back in social media. It's out there, but you need to do it. So I think I applaud their efforts. I really do. And yet you also want them to take a couple of deep breaths and say, Where are we going here? Um, we want to get out there. We want to get ahead. But do you want to be so aggressive that you're taking the risk of making these kinds of mistakes before you really get your feet on the ground in the medium? It is amazing. You know, you mentioned that social media is a dangerous game, but I think anybody that is level head enough can can agree that being a police officer is the most dangerous game out there. And so, uh, you know, if you have to get the messaging out with a little social media to show people, Hey, this is the work that's being done. Don't just believe what you're hearing or reading in the papers or seeing on television that, you know, you see it for yourself firsthand. Richard, we appreciate it. As always, it's good to talk with you and we'll talk with you next week and we'll see what progress is made when this new numbers come out next week and we see if the National Guard has had any impact. All right, Richard, thank you. Thank you, Chris.