SEPTA police pledge a safer system for students this school year

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- After a 2023-24 academic year that included multiple after-school shootings, SEPTA announced a new safety plan to protect the approximately 55,000 students who rely on public transportation.

SEPTA Transit Police is pledging more police coverage during school arrival and dismissal times, more of a presence in areas near multiple schools and a greater focus on observing and tracking surveillance cameras in real-time to help fight and deter crime before and after school.

The transit agency says it is prioritizing riders' safety.

Chief Charles Lawson spoke to CBS News Philadelphia about the coming changes in the wake of a year that saw eight Northeast High School students shot near a bus stop and three Imhotep Institute Charter High School students shot while about to board a bus .

"We saw some really tragic incidents occur stemming from beefs that occurred between schools," Lawson said. "And spilled out into shootings near SEPTA, near our system, near our buses."

"Students are returning to a safer, cleaner system," Lawson added. "One where we are really focused on the quality of life for our customers and the experience our customers have."

Here's a breakdown of what families can expect this year

Increased officer presence

Officer shifts have been extended with more overlapping shifts during key times when students are heading to school or after dismissal. Lawson said more than 100 officers will be in the field at dismissal.

"The overnight crew's going to stay longer in the mornings when the students head to school, the afternoon crews are going to be in early and the morning crew's going to stay late," Lawson said. "We're going to have as many cops on the system as possible during student travel."

"The Philadelphia Police Department just staffed with a number of extra police officers down the Kensington corridor," Lawson said. "That's going to allow us to spread out over a larger area to make sure that students going - either walking from their school to SEPTA or being let off a bus near a SEPTA stop - is seeing police both from the transit police department and Philadelphia as they navigate streets right around the transit system."

Targeted Patrols

SEPTA police plan to intensify patrols in areas where multiple schools are nearby.

Police will also crack down on fare evasion and smoking and ask student riders to use their district-provided fare cards for every trip so SEPTA can keep track of the most heavily used routes.

Reporting potential incidents before they become tragic is also key. Lawson is encouraging students to use the SEPTA Transit Watch app to report any safety concerns .

"If you think there is an issue brewing that could lead to violence, we want to know about it, not so that anyone gets in trouble but so we can position police officers in a way that will completely combat something kicking off," Lawson said.

Officers may be assigned to escort some buses as well, SEPTA said in a news release.

Virtual Patrol Units

SEPTA will have more people looking at video surveillance cameras and on buses that commonly carry students to and from school, Lawson said.

"We have more folks that are viewing video in real-time. We have more folks that are logging in to the cameras on the buses. And so the student trippers, we have more folks in the field who can provide escorts for buses into our largest terminals."

Collaboration with Philadelphia School District

SEPTA plans to coordinate more with the Philadelphia Police Department and expand the "safe corridors" program by getting officers from SEPTA, PPD and school police to staff traveled routes between school and SEPTA stations.

These departments will share information to make sure they have early notifications about emerging conflicts between students or other problems.

"New for this year, we're trying to establish kind of a joint intelligence group where both of our organizations can just populate that with information that our cops are seeing from the field and that school police are kind of cultivating behind the scenes at the individual schools," Lawson said.