"How was I supposed to know he was a cop - he looked like a bum." - Anonymous Subway Predator, Queens, New York City,1985

In the early 1980s crime was rampant in New York City, especially in the dirty, dark, grimy subway. Many New Yorkers felt they were taking their lives in their hands every time they descended into the underground abyss. The New York City Transit Police Management devised a plan to combat the lawlessness in the subway. They would create a train patrol unit and place a uniformed cop on every late-night train. That would surely drive down crime and have a positive impact on the public's perception of subway safety - it didn't!

If a uniformed cop on every train had no impact on crime, maybe the perception that every subway rider was a police officer would do the trick. Enter the Transit Police Decoy Unit.