“It’s not like we can have a crime-free transit system when the city is struggling with violence.,” Nestel said. “We suffer the same thing. It’s the same population.”
Both SEPTA police and transit worker unions have called for Nestel’s ouster. The two labor organizations said in recent statements that the chief’s policing strategies have made the system dangerous for employees and riders.
The embattled chief seemed unbothered by the negative criticism from transit workers and police officers. According to a SEPTA spokesperson, Nestel has the support of the board and executive leadership.
“There’s always room for improvement,” Nestel said. “I also say that the transit police are doing a great job.”
Earlier this month, transit police called on the authority to get rid of a policy that delayed the arrest of alleged criminal offenders on the system.
The policy, instituted last August, directs officers to apprehend the suspect, identify them, transport them away from the scene then release them with the intent to arrest them via warrant. The transit police union has argued that the policy encourages lawlessness.
“It’s incentivizing crime on our system to a point to where it’s going to spiral out of control at a certain point,” Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 president Omari Bervine said. “And I think I think we’re sadly approaching that point.”
Nestel defended the policy saying it allows officers to investigate alleged incidents more thoroughly and rebuffed the union’s claim.
If “they’re going back out to commit another crime while we’re doing our investigation, then, yeah, we’ve got to change that,” Nestel said. “But that’s not what’s happened since August.”
WHYY is one of over 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push towards economic justice. Follow us at @BrokeInPhilly.