Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Police

Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Operations Force

Patch of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Operations Force
Motto New York's Proudest
Agency overview
Formed 1978
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* City of New York in the state of New York, US
Map of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Operations Force's jurisdiction.
Legal jurisdiction New York State
General nature
Specialist jurisdiction Buildings and lands occupied or explicitly controlled by the institution and the institution's personnel, and public entering the buildings and precincts of the institution.
Operational structure
Headquarters New York, New York
Bridge and Tunnel Officers Approx. 966
Agency executive James Fortunato, Chief of Operations
Parent agency MTA Bridges and Tunnels
Units
Facilities
Bridges and Tunnels
Website
Official TBTA Site
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Operations Force is the law enforcement division of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority in New York City. It is responsible for protecting all facilities and surrounding area owned by the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, for enforcing state and city laws at all the facilities and the surrounding area, and for many non law enforcement duties, including collecting the tolls, towing disabled and wrecked vehicles off of the roadways, and clearing snow off the roadways. The TBTA currently has 966 Bridge and Tunnel Officers, Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains.

The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority is a transportation and toll collection agency with many divisions.

The Operations Force (law enforcement division) is not part of the MTA Police. Bridge and Tunnel Officers are the policing authority of the TBTA.

History

September 11 attacks and change of the department

Prior to the September 11 attacks in 2001, BTOs were unarmed unless they were the desk officer, a supervisor, making an arrest, or transporting revenue money. The reason for officers being unarmed was due to customer service concerns. A BTO's main responsibility was toll collection, with limited law enforcement tasks. BTOs mainly stood foot posts on the plaza, and RMP patrols were limited. Since September 11, the TBTA force's responsibilities and operation has increased dramatically. All officers, sergeants, lieutenants and captains are now armed at all times and the force is proactive in law enforcement responsibilities. The formation of several units also took place over this time, and many new law enforcement posts were created for day-to-day operations.

Incidents involving BTOs

Possible merger into MTA Police

Because the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority is a part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, there has been discussion around incorporating the BTOs into the MTA Police. In the original draft of the creation of the consolidated MTA Police Department, the agencies that were originally to be merged were the Long Island Rail Road Police, Metro North Police, Staten Island Rapid Transit Police, and TBTA. TBTA officers were then removed due to issues in training, seniority and the completion of a NYS Police refresher course. BTOBA voted down any merger with the MTA Police. In 1998 the MTA Police Department was created by combining the Long Island Rail Road Police and Metro North Police. On July 1, 2005, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Police was absorbed into the MTA Police.

Personnel

Ranks

There are five sworn titles (referred to as ranks) for the TBTA Operations Force:

Title Insignia Uniform shirt color
Chief
White
Captain
White
Lieutenant
White
Sergeant
Dark blue
Bridge and Tunnel Officer
Dark blue

Power and authority

Sworn personnel are New York State Peace Officers authorized to execute warrantless arrests, perform car stops, issue summonses, carry a firearm and use physical and deadly force. The Geographical Area of Employment for sworn personnel is the City of New York.

Training

Recruit Officers attend the MTA Bridges and Tunnels training academy located on Randalls Island for 12 weeks. Recruits are trained in the use of a Glock 26 & 19 and receive training in accordance with New York State Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC) standards, New York City Fire Department training, NIMS training, Recognizing and Dealing with Weapons of Mass Destruction training, Radiation Detector training, American Red Cross First Aid/CPR training and MTA Bridges & Tunnels Training Academy.[4] All sworn personnel receive annual in-service training in all topics, including, but not limited to: deadly physical force, firearms requalification, self-defense, arrest procedures and techniques, CPR/AED/first aid and all relevant updates regarding state, city and local laws.

Units

Currently, the TBTA has the following units:

The Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit was formed in 2008 with five officers and three sergeants currently assigned. The unit enforces all weight, hazardous material, cargo, and other restrictions set by NYS law and TBTA rules and regulations.

Facilities

Currently, the TBTA has personnel at all nine bridges and tunnels operated by the TBTA.

The bridges and tunnels are:[5]

Operations

Toll collection and non law enforcement duties

Currently, Officers collect tolls at all facilities. (temporary toll collectors are hired on a 1-year basis, and are usually rehired at the completion of 1 year). Temporary toll collectors have no law enforcement status and their sole responsibility is the collection of tolls.[6] Many Officers, if not most, depending on seniority and the facility, do not collect tolls.

Officers operate wreckers to remove disabled vehicles from the roadways and also perform firefighting and emergency rescue operations at the scene of an accident or fire. Bridge and Tunnel Officers only operate wreckers on weekends & holidays at the bridges, during the week bridge and tunnel maintainers operate the wreckers. Officers operate the wreckers full-time at the tunnel facilities. During snow storms they may be required to assist in the removal of snow off the roadways.[7]

ACROBAT

The Achieving Collision Reduction on Bridges and Tunnels (ACROBAT) program was created to track and prevent auto accidents on the bridges and tunnels. This program also keeps statistics on summonses issued on bridges and tunnels, and what the charges were for.

Equipment

Officers are equipped with a firearm, expandable baton, can of pepper spray, handcuffs, whistle, flashlight, reflective traffic vest, bullet resistant vest, radiation detector, and a radio that is directly linked to the Central Dispatcher and other officers.

Currently, all officers are equipped with a Glock 19 service weapon, and the Glock 26 is authorized for off-duty use.

The force uses Chevrolet Impalas for patrol and the Ford Police Interceptor Sedan and Utility, Chevrolet Caprice PPV, Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe for Highway Patrol/SOD.[8] .[9][10]

See also

References

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