CM Nurse on criminal summonses and transit rule enforcement
Nurse raises Vital City data showing criminal summonses at an eight-year high with nearly 60,000, driven by transit rule violations. Gerber explains 90% of transit summonses are civil TAB summonses, with criminal summonses reserved for recidivists with three or more prior TABs.
Vital City reported that criminal summons in the first half of 2026 reached an eight-year high with nearly 60,000 summons.
From what I'm understanding is being driven mostly by the increase in enforcement of transit rule violations, things like disobeying subway signs or taking up more than one seat on the subway.
You know, again, like, why are we spending so many resources on that versus serious crime?
Right.
So, so you have officers in transit, right?
And they're seeing, they're doing their work, and they're seeing someone who is in violation of the transit rules, right?
Now, that could give rise, often the answer, by the way, is they do not, there's disobeying subway signs or taking up more than one seat on the subway.
They correct the issue and that's that.
When it comes to enforcement, they have the option in every case that you could give a tab summons or a criminal summons.
You know, again, like, why are we spending so many resources on that versus serious crime?
Right.
As a matter of law, every trans-able violation is criminal summons eligible.
So, so.
You have officers in transit, right?
And they're seeing, they're doing their work, and they're seeing someone who is in violation of the transit rules, right?
In that universe of summonses in transit, 90% of the time, it's TAP, not criminal.
Now, that could give rise, often the answer, by the way, is they do not, there's disobeying subway signs or taking up more than one seat on the subway.
So in the vast majority of situations, as between a TAP summons and a criminal summons, an officer is saying, no, I'm going to go the civil route, not the criminal route.
There's disobeying subway signs or taking up more than one seat on the subway.
Where you do see the criminal summonses,
in transit, when you have a tab recidivist, right?
Someone who received three or more tabs in the last two years, or has three or more unanswered or unpaid tabs in the last eight years, and in that relatively narrow class of cases, when tabs have been repeatedly given, right?
And now, because of the person to tab recidivist, okay, now is the criminal summons route.
But again, 90% of the time, civil summons is not criminal.
It would be great to get in the follow-up of that nearly 60,000 criminal summonses.
What are we looking at?
From my understanding, I hear what you're saying.
Someone on the train is issuing, okay, they're going to go the other route and not a criminal, but who are we issuing these criminal summonses to if they're recidivists?
Are they people who are homeless?
I mean, like, who's on there, you know, taking out their...
more than one seat, you know, that you are now getting a criminal summons to.
Right.
Just to be clear, when I say recidivist, I mean, we have a particular policy, right?
So it'll say in our system, this person has gotten three or more tabs in the last two years or has three or more unpaid answer tabs in the last eight years.
It is not based on whether the person is homeless or not at all.
In a situation in which, okay.
I understand.
I think it would just be helpful if you could send some of that, a breakdown of some of that in the follow-up, and we can write out a proper question for you.
My last question is on unconstitutional policing.