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MTA Brainstorming Ways To Monitor Repeat Criminal Riders

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- New approaches barring repeat offenders from the transit system are being batted around at MTA headquarters.

"There has been an on and off discussion with the city over 10  years as to whether or not there should be some form of recidivist program such that if criminals, convicted criminals reach a certain criteria -- number of crimes committed in the subway a certain number of times -- they're banned from the subway," MTA Chair Thomas Prendergast told WCBS 880's Rich Lamb. "There will be a whole host of challenges to that legally."

Prendergast said they're looking to judges who at sentencing, could on the recommendation of prosecutors, prohibit specific individuals from taking the subway. The idea is still in its initial stages.

The MTA Transit Committee widely agreed to form the team, which may consist of full-time employees dedicated to creating a database of thieves and criminal offenders.

If the ban goes through, offenders would likely be barred from Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road as well.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton recently released transit crime figures, which were up 36.4 percent in January. Bratton also urged New Yorkers to avoid sleeping on the subway, saying that 50 percent of the reported crimes in the subway involve sleeping passengers.

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