Good and Bad Assault News

For Traffic Enforcement Agents, July 22 was an historic day because a new law took effect making assaults against them a felony.

On that same day, however, Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes was joined by the heads of New York City Transit and Transport Workers Union Local 100 to talk about a disturbing rate of assaults on transit employees by members of the public.

Transit workers six years ago got the same legal protection — assaults on them reclassified as felonies, with a consequent increase in criminal penalties for their attackers — that was finally afforded last week to TEAs. The problem, Mr. Hynes said, is that a punch to the eye or one that splits an employee's lip does not constitute severe-enough damage to qualify as an assault. Thus, a member of the public with mayhem in mind but lacking the punching power of Mike Tyson might escape the felony charges and the resulting jail time that was intended to be a deterrent when the law was passed.

Local 100 President Roger Toussaint told reporters that assaults against transit personnel that were serious enough to make them miss time at work occurred roughly every other day last year, with numerous additional cases in which they were assaulted but did not have to take time off.

The creation of a new bureau in the Brooklyn DA's Office focusing on transit worker assault cases could lead to more-effective prosecutions. Unfortunately, it could take truly egregious attacks, in which the victims are hospitalized, to draw both the jail time and publicity that would send a message that it is unacceptable to vent frustrations by assaulting employees.

We hate to temper the understandable elation that TEAs feel about their felony assault bill becoming law, but that is likely to be the reality for them as well.