After a Brooklyn school dean was beaten up by MTA police earlier this month, the head of the transit system announced on Thursday that it was suspending its fare enforcement on buses. Kyle Taylor, a dean at a school in Brownsville, claims he paid the fare, even as uniformed MTA police officers from the EAGLE team pinned him against the bus and slammed him to the ground. Taylor claims he eventually passed out as a result of the interaction.
Announcing the pause, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said that a second incident involving fare enforcement officers had come to his attention, leading him to order a review of safety protocols for the teams. He didn't elaborate on what that second incident was.
"I’m not willing to keep our teams active in the field until I know that all protocols are being followed with respect to both the customer interactions, how they’re conducted, but also with respect to the reporting and investigation of incidents," Lieber said at a Thursday press conference. "As a result I’m ordering an immediate safety stand-down until these investigations conclude.”
In August 2024, the MTA rolled out buffed-up versions of the EAGLE teams, in an effort to cut down on fare evasion.
But as Hell Gate has reported extensively, the EAGLE teams have for several years now frequently given tickets to riders who have already paid, pulled people off the bus because officers' own technology has malfunctioned, and just generally slowed down commutes for riders on the city's "Select Bus Service."