The New York Police Department is under fire after shooting a subway rider – Derrel Mickles. The rider was among four that were shot by the NYPD, which included two other subway riders and an officer. The shooting comes at a time where New York Mayor Eric Adams has started more stringent procedures for subway safety. In 2022, a month after he took office, Adams launched a “Subway Safety” plan. Adams placed more police officers to crack down on those not paying their subway fares.
The incident happened in Brooklyn, at an L train stop. The officers saw Mickles walk through the subway turnstile without paying, and they followed him up the stairs, asking him to stop. According to the NYPD, Mickles allegedly took a knife out of his pockets when the officers tried to use a taser on the rider. NYPD Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference that the taser was “ineffective.” When Mickles approached the officers, two officers fired their guns. Two bystanders were also shot by the police – a man (Gregory Delpeche) and a woman. Delpeche was struck in the head, and the woman was grazed by a bullet. An NYPD spokesperson said that the department would not release any update about the statuses of the four people who were shot.
Protesters took to the streets to respond to the shooting. Protesters are frustrated and terrified that a person could be shot by the cops and die because of a fare evasion of $2.90. Footage from the shooting shows that the cops shot Mickles as he was standing still, arms at this side and back to a train. Officers said that Mickles charged at them, but the footage shows a different view of the shooting.
Delpeche’s attorney said, “The NYPD’s version of events is a gross mischaracterization of what we see on that video. There was no need for any bullets to fly in the subway station, especially in a setting where the officers put innocent bystanders at risk. And it resulted in Gregory getting shot in the back of the head.”
Loyda Colon, part of the group Communities United for Police Reform said, “This horrific event that endangered dozens of transit users didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened because the mayor has invested in flooding officers into our subway system and communities to criminalize mental illness and poverty, rather than in making transit, housing, and services affordable and available to New Yorkers.”
The police are still recovering the knife that Mickles allegedly held. The NYPD initially said that the knife was recovered from the scene and posted a photo of it on social media, but then changed their statement the next day saying that an unknown man was wanted for allegedly removing the knife from the station.
It is clear that police reform is necessary. Overzealous police officers shot a man over fare evasion of $2.90, and two other subway riders were shot. For subway riders, increased police presence doesn’t indicate a sense of safety and security, but rather danger and violence. Increased police presence at subways shows an administration that is willing to prosecute the marginalized rather than attempting to address the systemic issues that cause a person to evade a fare.
