NYPD Chief of Transit Michael Kemper will be stepping down from his post as top transit cop next month but will not be leaving the NYC subways, amNewYork Metro has learned.
According to sources familiar with the move, Kemper will be stepping down from the role he has held since December 2020 at the end of September.
“No Transit Bureau chief has ever been a better partner than Michael Kemper in creating strategies to reduce subway crime and improve quality of life for riders and transit workers. He leaves this role with a legacy that includes the lowest number of subway robberies since record keeping began, and fewer serious transit crimes overall than before the pandemic,” MTA chair Janno Lieber said in a statement.
Sources tell amNewYork Metro that Kemper will not be straying far for the gleaming subway rails and instead will head up security of the MTA.
According to NYPD statistics, the NYC subway system has seen an overall 5.2% drop in crime year to date (1,442 in 2023 and 1,367 in 2024) as Kemper repeatedly told amNewYork Metro that his focus has been on stopping fare evasion. In the month of July alone, transit crime reduced by 19.7% (183 crimes in 2023 and 147 in 2024).
“We’re hyper-focused on fare evasion,” Kemper said in June. “I can’t tell you how many people that were stopped for fare evasion that are wanted on some really serious crimes. People wanted for murder; people wanted for sex crimes such as rape; people in possession of loaded guns, a lot of people. Every person that we stop for fare evasion that has a gun on them, that’s a huge, huge win.”
Kemper joined the NYPD in 1991, closing out an over three decade long career with the department.
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