Recent high-profile shootings in and around SEPTA stations in Philadelphia reflect an alarming increase in violence following 2022, when crime on the transit system was trending down.
However, the types of crime passengers are most likely to encounter on SEPTA are smoking, turnstile-jumping, public urination, and other unruly acts. SEPTA is struggling to manage the incidents. Arrests overall by the department have plummeted by 85% since 2019, while the ranks of the 230-person department have thinned by about 13%. Transit Police made 195 arrests last year.
Meanwhile, quality-of-life infractions on SEPTA rose from 5,405 civil “enforcement notices” to 7,180 between January 2019 through 2022, according to Transit Police data obtained by The Inquirer. Certain infractions, such as smoking or public urination, rose by more than 200%.Here’s are four charts that show how crime and policing on SEPTA has changed since before the pandemic.