SEPTA Implementing Changes To Security After Two Women Attacked Along Market-Frankford Line
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS) -- SEPTA riders are demanding action after two women were attacked within the system in as many weeks.
"I'm constantly now feeling like I can't even look at my phone. I just have to be more aware of my surroundings," SEPTA rider Gemma Tate said.
Fear amongst SEPTA riders after two women are attacked along the Market-Frankford Line.
"It wasn't always that way. You always have to be circumspect and aware, unfortunately also as a female," Tate said.
The attacks prompted a protest Friday afternoon by the faith community calling for an end to the violence.
A woman was raped on a Market-Frankford Line train on Oct 13. Thirty-five-year-old Fiston Ngoy was arrested in this attack.
And then on Oct. 81, police say 28-year-old Edwin Allen groped and assaulted a woman in the 69th Street Station Terminal.
In both attacks, the suspects were arrested immediately by SEPTA officer Thomas Schiliro.
"You kind of just have to block out the noise. You don't really have time to think. You think, 'bad guy, I have to get him,' intervene however I can," Schiliro said.
Meanwhile, SEPTA is implementing some changes to try to keep you safe while you're within the system.
"We're going to look at everything about what we're doing with security," SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said.
Busch says they'll be looking at how police are deployed throughout the system, especially at troubled stations. They're also adding unarmed security at some stations and aboard trains.
While the agency already has nearly 2,000 surveillance cameras in its system, Busch says they are in the process of adding a new unit to monitor live security cameras.
"To come in and set up sort of a small control center for them to monitor those feeds, help us make sure we're having police respond to areas where they see things coming up," he said.
