Official: Take pics of subway gropers

Councilman Peter Vallone said women have been helping police by snapping pictures of subway gropers and he encouraged school-aged girls to carry cellphones with built-in cameras on the subway, the New York Post reported Thursday.

New York Police Department Transit Chief James Hall told a council panel complaints of sexual abuse in subway cars increased 4 percent from 2008 to 2009. However, he said arrests of accused subway gropers decreased by 6 percent during that time.

"This should not be a part of commuting in New York," Hall said. "It's an underreported crime."

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.