New York City’s transit systems have become so bad hundreds of National Guard troops have been stationed in the subways, on top of additional police, state troopers, bag checkers, mental health teams, and now gun detectors, which will soon be tested in select stations. Of the latest use of technology to help address the public safety concerns, Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged how “random acts of violence” are hurting the “psyche of New York.” Conservative critics rightly pointed out that none of these efforts would be needed if criminals were locked up and the border closed, but those effective solutions are unlikely to be tried in Democrat-run cities. Just look across the country in San Francisco, where another absurd “solution” is part of the city’s approach to public safety.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit system gives passengers “intervention cards” that riders experiencing harassment or witnessing it can whip out to ask for help or offer assistance. It’s as nutty as it sounds:
Bystander Intervention Cards for Riders
Two distinct wallet-size cards are now available to riders to discreetly hand to people to signal they need help or support, or to notify someone being harassed that you are there to help and support them.
These new bystander intervention cards are a concept developed by the youth design team, who expressed the need for options when asking for help or approaching a situation of potential harm. The cards include the slogans “I Got You” and “You Got Me?” with a list of actionable items riders can take to help a situation, from reporting the harassment to simply standing with someone. As young people are still trying to find their voices and figuring out how to navigate and decipher harassment, a physical card you can hand someone is an effective tool to precipitate the shift from being a bystander to becoming an agent of change.
The cards are available for pick up at each Station Agent booth at BART, and Ambassadors and Crisis Intervention Specialists will carry the cards and give them out when engaging riders. BART and the Betti Ono Foundation will also work to distribute the cards to youth through community organizations, events, and schools. (BART)
If someone is harassing you in a way that makes you feel unsafe, hand a person close to you the 🔹 blue “You Got Me?” card to ask for their help. The card offers options for ways they might help you. pic.twitter.com/SW2frsJymo
— BART (@SFBART) March 29, 2024
The cards were created as part of BART’s Not One More Girl campaign, which encourages safety through bystander support and awareness, especially for girls and gender-expansive youth.
— BART (@SFBART) March 29, 2024
Learn more: https://t.co/43brq10wKQ pic.twitter.com/IwwvHsRANS
Needless to say, people with common sense were quick to let BART know how absurd the idea is.
my hands struggle to find the Bystander Intervention Card buried deep in the confines of my purse while my head is repeatedly bludgeoned by a neurodivergent racialized person of housing instability as hundreds of people watch in curiosity, unsure of if I require assistance https://t.co/lSsRw2gyAx
— pagliacci the hated 🌝 (@Slatzism) March 31, 2024
This is as pointless as Finland's "Don't Touch My No No Square" campaign to stop migrants from harassing women. https://t.co/LPSTg5YGGD
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 31, 2024
I cannot believe this is real. These people live in an alternate reality where a piece of paper is going to magically stop a deranged addict with a knife. https://t.co/8hjvggFHOt
— Justin Gordon (@Justin_G0rd0n) March 31, 2024
The last time someone used their "bystander intervention card." https://t.co/1LnyPGVoXK pic.twitter.com/UsXEqVABMI
— David Pivtorak (@piv4law) April 1, 2024
This is insane. BART is giving out business cards for crime victims and witnesses to share with each other during or after an attack on the subway. San Francisco has given up… https://t.co/O17XEQA0Nn
— @amuse (@amuse) March 31, 2024
How TF are these cards actually supposed to keep you safe when the Democrats have defunded the police and legalized crime and harassment in San Francisco?
— Libs Of TikTok 2 (@LibsofTikTok2) April 1, 2024
Oh, that's right, as long as it makes you *feel* safe. 🙄
This is a fantasy-world, nonsense "solution". https://t.co/vufzor4qGZ
