Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department


The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department is the law enforcement agency of New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority. MTA Police Officers are fully empowered under the New York State Public Authorities Law and are commissioned in the state of Connecticut. Their geographic area of employment extends to all counties in New York served by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, giving the MTA Police the ability to exercise full police authority within the counties of Dutchess, Putnam, Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Nassau, Suffolk, and in New York City.
The MTA Police Department is not responsible for the New York City Subway. The subways are patrolled by the NYPD Transit Bureau under contract since 1994, with assistance from 500 MTAPD officers which have been stationed in transit since 2019 to address farebeating and homelessness.

History

The department was formed on January 1, 1998, with the consolidation of the Long Island Rail Road Police Department and the Metro-North Railroad Police Department. Since 9/11, the department has expanded in size and has ramped up dramatically its counter-terrorism capabilities, adding canine teams and emergency services officers. There are 1 lieutenant, 4 sergeants, and 44 police officers who are assigned to the K-9 Unit and serve as handlers with their canine partners. The department now has one of the best trained K-9 units in the United States. At a national competition in 2013, two MTA Police dogs took third and fourth place in explosives detection.
Currently, training for new recruits is conducted at the New York City Police Academy. After successfully completing the academy curriculum; officers are further trained in Connecticut law and law enforcement procedures.
On June 1, 2005, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Police Department, with 25 officers, was merged into the MTA Police Department. The Staten Island Rapid Transit Police Department was responsible for policing the Staten Island Rapid Transit System in the Staten Island borough of New York City. This was the final step in consolidating MTA agency law enforcement, and increased the total workforce of the department to 716, including civilians.
On September 12, 2019, the MTA announced the addition of 500 MTAPD officers to patrol the New York City Subway, nearly doubling the 783 officers previously employed by the MTAPD. This came shortly after Governor Andrew Cuomo directed the MTA to solve the issue of homelessness in the subway system. After criticism of multiple high-profile arrests, multiple MTA board members expressed concerns over the added police presence, citing racial discrepancies in enforcement and the high cost of personnel, estimated at $249 million over four years.

Ranks of Department

The following is a list of all of the ranks of the MTA Police Department:
TitleInsigniaUniform Shirt Color
Chief of PoliceWhite
Chief of OperationsWhite
Deputy ChiefWhite
Assistant Deputy ChiefWhite
InspectorWhite
Deputy InspectorWhite
Captain/Detective CaptainWhite
Lieutenant/Detective LieutenantWhite
Sergeant/Detective SergeantDark Blue
Police Officer/DetectiveDark Blue

Rank insignia for Sergeant and Detective Sergeant is worn on the upper sleeves of the shirt and jacket while rank insignia for Lieutenant through Chief of Department is worn on the collars of the shirt and the shoulders of the jacket.

Districts

District #Location
1Central Islip
2Bethpage
3Jamaica
4Penn Station
5Grand Central Terminal
6Mount Vernon
7Beacon
8Stamford, Connecticut
9Staten Island
10East Side Access

Specialized Units

The department has the following specialized units :