NEW YORK (PIX11) – New York City is exploring the use of artificial intelligence as a new resource to combat rising crime in the city’s transportation system.
Mayor Eric Adams told PIX11 News that his administration has spent the past year meeting with tech companies to learn more about the use of artificial intelligence as a crime-fighting tool.
“There’s some amazing technology out there. They’re using artificial intelligence that can look at a specific location and determine if wrongdoing is happening. We’re working on all these new technologies,” Adams said.
The MTA has thousands of security cameras installed throughout the subway system, including all 472 subway stations. The cameras will be overlaid with artificial intelligence software, Adams said, “so they can be smarter and help us proactively prevent crime.”
While Adams said New York City is moving in the right direction in fighting crime, the city is still struggling with crime on subways and buses.
“We’re done [2022] Compared to last year, crime has increased by 29.6 per cent,” Acting Transport Commissioner Michael Kemper said.
Just hours before 2023, two men were stabbed in a Jamaica subway station during a brawl, police said. On December 20, an MTA worker was struck in the head with a hammer at the Chelsea subway station. On December 8, a man was found dead with wounds at the Greenwich Village subway station.