The vast majority of these individuals are prostitutes, drug addicts and petty criminals.
Most transit cops are men.
A male cop cannot just walk into a women's restroom on a hunch to question someone - he has to wait until a female colleague arrives.
Of course, you need more than one female cop because the individuals in question are really men and not women and most can overpower a singl;e female cop.
So the MTA has agreed to allow a criminal element a safe hiding place where they can dispose of evidence while the police are forced to wait on their pleasure.
[i]The vast majority of these individuals are prostitutes, drug addicts and petty criminals.[/i]
From where did you learn this?
[i]A male cop cannot just walk into a women's restroom on a hunch to question someone - he has to wait until a female colleague arrives.[/i]
Resonable suspicion is all that would be required for any LE person to enter the opposite restroom.
As well as a safe location from which they can ogle, verbally harass (or worse) any woman or girl with impunity who either doesn't know of a different restroom or is in such a dire state that she simply couldn't make it, and uses this public rest facility as a last or only resort.
Now that they (perverts and criminals) have a clear legal standing for being in a Women's restroom, the police have one less tool available to them in their fight against crime and criminals..