Days after local media reported his retirement from the New York City Police Department, Micheal M. Kemper has been tapped as Chief Security Officer at New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). With 33 years of NYPD service, he started as a patrol officer and rose through the ranks, taking on his most recent role, Chief of Transit, in December 2022.
NYPD’s Transit Bureau is responsible for the safety and security of the 5.6 million riders who use the New York City subways each day, according to NYPD. Bureau members patrol the subway system’s 472 stations and nearly 250 miles of rapid transit line. The Bureau comprises 12 transit districts, each located within or adjacent to the subway system, and overseen by three borough commands: Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx/Queens. District personnel are supplemented by members of several specialized units within the Transit Bureau, including three borough Task Forces, Anti-Terrorism Unit, Citywide Vandals Task Force, Canine Unit, Special Projects Unit, and MetroCard Fraud Task Force.
“As Chief of Transit, Kemper led the historic reduction in crime in the subway system,” reported MTA during the Sept. 4 announcement of his new role at the transit agency. “Together with MTA, Kemper successfully implemented the Cops, Camera, and Care program, launched by Governor [Kathy] Hochul and Mayor [Eric] Adams in October 2023, which added more cameras, uniformed officers and mental health professionals. In addition to an increased presence, Kemper focused on curbing fare evasion to keep bad actors out of the system.”
According to MTA, Kemper’s efforts led to a 2.9% reduction in crime in his first full year as Chief of Transit, while the number of fare evasion tickets increased by 44.8%. “The downward trend in crime has continued into 2024,” MTA reported, “with latest transit crime statistics from the NYPD showing that major crimes have decreased by 7.7% year-to-date through July 2024 in the subway system.”
Kemper has held multiple ranks and commanded a variety of units within NYPB’s Patrol Services Bureau and Detective Bureau and worked in all five city boroughs.
At MTA, he will oversee security, including public safety in the transit system; the MTA Police Department, which is responsible for policing the MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), MTA Metro-North Railroad (MNR), MTA Staten Island Railway, and major transit hubs; and protection of infrastructure and major facilities such as Grand Central Terminal and MTA Bridges and Tunnels. Kemper will continue to work with the NYPD, serving as the primary liaison between the MTA and NYPD on public safety efforts for subway and bus riders, while also collaborating with law enforcement throughout the region on the safety of MTA infrastructure.
Additionally, Kemper will “spearhead agency wide fare evasion enforcement strategy,” working with MTA New York City Transit, LIRR and MNR, according to the transit agency, and collaborate with MTA Construction & Development on the development of new fare enforcement technology and initiatives.
MTA serves a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000 square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. Its network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined.
“Michael Kemper has been the architect of the NYPD’s hugely successful strategy for reducing crime in the transit system,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said. “It has made transit much safer in all of the major crime categories, and I look forward to a continuation of progress with him leading MTA’s security initiatives, in collaboration with the NYPD.”
“As a second-generation New York City cop, my dream of joining the ranks of the NYPD became a reality more than three decades ago,” said incoming MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper. “I look back fondly on my years of service to this city and its people, especially in my most recent role as the NYPD’s Chief of Transit, working closely with our transportation partners. It serves as the perfect foundation for improving security to an even higher level as I approach crime control strategies from inside the MTA.”
