Just days after the two Moscow terrorist blasts, New York City officials stated that about half the 4,313 security cameras installed along its subways are not operating. “A lot of those cameras do not work, and maybe someday we’re going to get very badly hurt because of it,” Mayor Bloomberg said in press reports. While cameras are out of commission in the subway, the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority has also been forced to cut police patrol shifts on major bridges and tunnels on the weekends. The New York Police Department says it does not depend on the surveillance cameras set up by the MTA — instead, officers patrol the subways and set up random bag searches in stations around the city. The NYPD is installing thousands of cameras around the city and is using private surveillance installed in major buildings as part of a massive security initiative. In addition, 500 specialized cameras are in place — an image from one of those cameras led officers to a suspect wanted in the brutal assault of a woman in a bar a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, about 600 agents stationed in the subways have been laid off because of lack of money.
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