MBTA: Be careful, crime is up on Boston subways

REVERE – Pickpockets and other thieves coveting small, expensive carry-around electronic devices like iPods helped drive up crime on the Blue Line and other Boston area subway lines last year.Incidents in the category of larceny or theft increased from 506 to 699.Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police Chief Paul MacMillan attributed much of the increase to the theft of electronic items such as iPods and Sidekicks, a popular cell phone.”We continue to stress the importance of customers being aware of their surroundings, especially when using a cell phone or PDA,” MacMillan said.MacMillan said crimes in 2008 totaled 1,049. The total number in 2007 was 874. Aggravated assaults dropped from 112 to 103, while robberies rose slightly, 183 to 207. Motor vehicle thefts decreased from 55 to 27.”That trend is encouraging,” MacMillan said, “considering we park over 9 million cars annually.””We conducted a number of awareness campaigns throughout the year to alert our passengers to what we saw occurring on the system,” said MacMillan. “These campaigns not only provide important information, they also encourage customers to report incidents to the MBTA Transit Police so that we can take appropriate action.”Noting that the MBTA attracted nearly 375 million riders in Fiscal Year 2008, General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said public transit continues to be a safe and reliable alternative to automobile travel. “Our ridership is at record levels, in part, because the MBTA is a very safe system,” said Grabauskas. “Backed by the largest Transit Police force in the department’s history, the MBTA will continue to provide its customers with a safe and comfortable transportation environment.”Of the MBTA’s 271 stations, 144 were crime-free last year, according to statistics.Following the highly-publicized April 2008 launch of an anti-sexual harassment campaign, reported incidents of people being indecently assaulted rose from 44 in 2007 to 69 last year. MacMillan pointed out that this increase can be attributed to the public awareness program, co-sponsored by the MBTA and the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, empowering T passengers to call police if they are inappropriately touched.”We expected that there might be an increase in the reports, MacMillan said. “The purpose of the campaign was two fold, one to alert our passengers that they could take some action if accosted, and two, as I stated earlier, to give us a more accurate picture of what was actually happening on the system.”