New tactics were implemented today onboard NJ Transit trains and buses in a joint effort with the NJ Transit Police Department to catch counterfeit ticket users.

Train crew members are now equipped with UV scanners to inspect weekly and monthly rail tickets, which now contain an anti-counterfeit measure that is only visible with NJ Transit's UV scanners, according to a NJ Transit press release. This highly visible approach is also being used by light rail fare collection officers and both uniformed and plain clothed officers on board the trains.

The UV scanners are capable of scanning tickets displayed in customers’ plastic ticketholders, according to NJ Transit. Customers will not be required to remove their passes from their ticketholders unless the scanner is unable to detect the anti-counterfeit measure, at which time the train crew member will request that the ticket be removed for further inspection.   

The UV scanners are part of a series of new measures being undertaken by NJ Transit to avert the usage, manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit tickets, according to NJ Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo.

“These are not victimless crimes,” said Trucillo.  “These criminal acts financially penalize the hundreds of thousands of NJ Transit customers who lawfully utilize our system every weekday. Let me be crystal clear. If you are using a counterfeit ticket, we will catch you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you.”

Since June 2010, Transit Police report arresting 200 people for crimes relating to ticket fraud, including a train conductor and accomplice who were arrested on charges they defrauded the company of thousands of dollars. According to Trucillo, their internal research shows that the production and distribution of counterfeit tickets has continued to climb.