Here's a story from last year as well (below). Unfortunately I have seen stories of incidents all over the system, with some attacks taking place not just during the late hours but also during the middle of the day and during rush hour, and at locations one might ordinarily assume to be safe. [redacted by mod]
As for the claim that overall crime has dropped, keep in mind that municipalities all across the nation have been fudging their numbers to make themselves look better. In one case in DC, a criminal with a lengthy record was arrested and, among other things, charged with assaulting a police officer. If you thought that would inspire the city to keep him in jail, you're wrong. They downgraded his offense from felony to misdemeanor and released him the next day, a practice some refer to as "catch and release." With the wave of a hand and the stroke of a pen, the felony disappeared and only a misdemeanor remained. Crime is down, right? The following day he was at it again. Aboard a Red Line train he attempted to rob a young man of his phone and, when he resisted, the perp stabbed him about 30 times and then jumped up and down on his body. Then, with his bloody knife in hand, he robbed other passengers in the car, demanding of them, "What you got?!"
Of course, he was soon arrested again and city officials said they'd get to the bottom of why such a dangerous criminal was released yet again to prey upon those unfortunate enough to cross his path, but if they ever released a statement, I missed it. Quite likely they knew the public's attention span is limited and people would move on to other topics. The true reason is that it's policy, and you do railfanning and photography on Metro at your own peril.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/loca ... -585884552
Young people committing surprisingly serious crimes on Metro
Disturbing new data has been released from Metro.
Statistics released about a year after WUSA9 requested them show surprisingly young children arrested in the transit system for allegedly committing surprisingly serious crimes.
Police have arrested children as young as 10 for crimes like assault, robbery and attacking an officer.
WUSA9 asked for these numbers after a series of attacks on trains committed by young people. But they are just a snapshot, and don't give us a sense of whether crime committed by juveniles on Metro is going up or down.
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Bruce Leshan, WUSA9, August 20, 2018