Overview
- MTA Chair Janno Lieber announced a temporary stand-down of all EAGLE bus fare-enforcement teams on Thursday while the agency investigates recent incidents and reviews protocols.
- Surveillance footage from October 6 shows agents pinning and slamming Brooklyn school dean Kyle Taylor during a B14 bus stop confrontation and his attorneys have filed a $25 million notice of claim.
- Lieber said the agency uncovered a second, earlier incident that was not reported up the chain, and the four inspectors tied to the Oct. 6 encounter have been reassigned pending investigation.
- EAGLE teams, short for Evasion And Graffiti Lawlessness Eradication, are about 350 unarmed MTA inspectors expanded to local buses in 2023 who can issue summonses or order riders off for nonpayment.
- The review, led by MTA Chief of Security Michael Kemper, could change training, incident reporting and oversight practices and leaves no timeline for when teams will return to service and how the agency will address rising fare evasion and lost revenue.