SEPTA announced this week that it will increase its enforcement of quality-of-life violations as part of an effort to “discourage incidents, focus on repeat offenders, and enhance the customer experience,” the transit agency said in a statement.
The change is to take effect on July 1, at which point SEPTA Transit Police will issue Code Violation Notices (CVNs) for low-level crimes, including alcohol consumption, public urination, smoking, littering, and other offenses.
Under this policy, Transit Police will issue a ticket to the offender and forward a copy of the ticket to the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Administrative Review (OAR), SEPTA said.
Fines will range from $25 to $150 and offenders will have the option to pay the fine or request a court date. OAR will track unpaid fines, and chronic offenders will be banned from entering SEPTA property.
“The shift to Code Violation Notices demonstrates our commitment to stepping up enforcement of quality-of-life offenses,” said SEPTA CEO and General Manager Leslie S. Richards. “These violations are often the subject of customer complaints and can be associated with more serious crimes. Our customers and employees deserve to feel safe when they are traveling on SEPTA.”
The transit agency said it will also continue to hire more officers. Their force has grown from 196 at the end of 2022 to 230 sworn officers on staff today, their highest number in years.
“These and other efforts resulted in a 45% decrease in serious crimes on the system during the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023,” SEPTA said in a statement.
SEPTA Police Chief Chuck Lawson told WHYY that the agency lightened its enforcement model during the pandemic, replacing stiff financial penalties and court dates with a simple $25 fine, though the change hasn’t panned out.
“We’re getting serious crime under control and those numbers are very clear. But we gotta get our hands around antisocial behavior, low-level criminal offending, and we’re not having success with that with the tool that we’re using now,” he said.
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Photo: SEPTA