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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. ? If youre a regular Metro-North rider, add your cell phone and laptop to the growing list of commuter concerns.
Felonies on New York's commuter rail system, which includes the New Haven line in Fairfield County, increased by 6 percent through the first eight months of 2011, compared with the same period in 2010, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authoritys latest monthly reports.
While the total number of crimes categorized as major felonies increased from 93 to 99 from January to August compared with the same period a year ago, violent crime was down.
Robberies dropped from 11 to six, felony assaults from seven to six and automobile burglaries from six to two. No murders or rapes were reported, according to Metro-North.
But thefts of cell phones and other electronic communication devices such as iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, laptops and android devices rose 22 percent from 65 in 2010 to 79 this year.
As far as any kind of violent crime, it is safer to ride on Metro-North trains this year than the year before, and the odds of being the victim of violence were nearly zero already, said Aaron Donovan, a spokesman for Metro-North.
However, Donovan cautioned commuters to be more careful with their cell phones and other electronic gadgets and other personal property.
We want people to use their cell phones and Blackberries while they are riding our trains, but with more people using them more of the time, there are also people who are looking for a chance to grab them when people arent expecting it, Donovan said. The best thing is to make sure the devices are always within your sight.
Passengers are not always aware they have been the victim of a larceny until later because people dont always watch their property closely," Donovan said. Others will leave things on the train, he said, and they will be found by other commuters who wont turn them in.
Commuter advocates say more must be done to reduce crime on the trains and at train stations, particularly with a three-year, 12-percent fare hike to begin Jan. 1.
Overall, I believe Metro-North commuters put up with so much in terms of lack of space, noise, waiting, discomfort and the safety issues we saw in the extreme heat this summer, and in the cold last winter, said State Rep. Gail Lavielle, R-Wilton, whose district also includes parts of Norwalk.
Whenever you have crime going up, you need to know whats behind it and I would certainly expect the Department of Transportation and Metro-North to look into this and how it can be better controlled, Lavielle said.
James Cameron, chairman of the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council, has been arguing for years that security on Metro-North's New Haven Line is "severely lacking."
"Our trains in Connecticut are wide-open targets," Cameron said. "Unlike airports, trains and buses in general don't have enough security. But the New Haven Line is the weak link of the entire New York area train system.
Metro-North links Connecticut, New Jersey and New York's Hudson Valley to New York City. An estimated 130,000 commuters ride the New Haven line every day.
Contact Richard Weizel at rweizel@mainstreetconnect.us.
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