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"When I get home, I say, thank God I made it." Anonymous subway rider - Bronx, New York, 1979.In the early 1980s crime was rampant in New York City, especially in the dirty, dark, grimy subway. New Yorkers forced to ride the trains to work spent as little time as possible in the underground world, and said prayers of thanks every day when they made it home safely. Imagine having to ride in those subterranean metal containers for eight or more hours every day.The second installment in the series tells the story of five young New Yorkers who became police officers. They came from diverse backgrounds with diverse reasons for choosing a police career. They wanted to make a difference. They wanted to serve the people - they wanted to solve crimes - they wanted to make the subway safe. They ended up hanging on tightly to a handrail as they rode subway trains back and forth for eight hours every night. In other words, they ended up right in the middle of Hairbag Nation!

New York City Transit Police Officers in the 1980s worked under challenging conditions, including filthy grimy subway stations and out of control crime.The men and women of the Transit Police Department faced these challenges head on. Whether it was the uniformed patrol officer, detective, K-9 officer, or any of the specialized units, transit cops worked tirelessly to keep the subway riders of New York City safe and sound under the most adverse conditions. There was one unit, however, that stood out among all the rest. These brave officers did not share in the crime and grime of their fellow officers. These cops rode in a special air conditioned, heated, clean train only open to passengers travelling from Manhattan to the airport, and were prohibiting from getting off their exclusive train, even if there were desperate pleas for help emanating from just outside the train doors. This is the story of the Train to the Plane Unit, and this is Hairbag Nation.

"How was I supposed to know he was a cop - he looked like a bum." - Anonymous Subway Predator, Queens, New York City,1985In the early 1980s crime was rampant in New York City, especially in the dirty, dark, grimy subway. Many New Yorkers felt they were taking their lives in their hands every time they descended into the underground abyss. The New York City Transit Police Management devised a plan to combat the lawlessness in the subway. They would create a train patrol unit and place a uniformed cop on every late-night train. That would surely drive down crime and have a positive impact on the public's perception of subway safety - it didn't!If a uniformed cop on every train had no impact on crime, maybe the perception that every subway rider was a police officer would do the trick. Enter the Transit Police Decoy Unit.

The story of policing is a story of heroes - those men and women who don the uniform every day and put themselves in harm's way to maintain a safe and civil society. There are also many sub-stories to this grand tale. One such tale is the story of the hairbag - those cops whose years on the job have infected them with a sour and cynical attitude towards their management and the publicPolicing a filthy smelly subway was a breeding ground for the hairbag attitude, so it was not surprising that hairbag-itis ran rampant in the old New York City Transit Police Department. The Transit Police Revenue Protection Unit was responsible for providing security for all the money coming into New York City's subways and buses. RPU cops worked on the money trains that picked up the cash at the stations and they worked in the transit money room in Brooklyn. In RPU, cops performed no patrol and had no public contact, qualities that made the unit a prime assignment for hairbags.When Sean Larkin became a transit cop in 1979, the thought of entering the ranks of the hairbags never entered his mind. Sean wanted nothing more than to be a good cop and advance to the rank of detective. Sean battled his way through the influence of the hairbags, including a short stint in the Revenue Protection Unit after he was injured on patrol. He also managed to keep his positive attitude when the transit police was merged into the NYPD, further delaying his goal of becoming a detective. Sean finally was promoted to detective, and found a home working in the Narcotics Division. All was right with Sean's world - until the night he was framed by another cop and accused of stealing money from a narcotics raid. While awaiting trial, Sean was sent to the NYPD Transit Bureau for an unarmed restricted duty assignment, and in an ironic twist, he was placed in the transit money room, and assigned to the remnants of the old Revenue Protection Unit.While waiting for the criminal justice system to put him in jail Sean meets another cop also awaiting a similar fate. This cop, however, offers Sean an alternative to prison. This is Hairbag Nation

Being a cop in New York City can be challenging. Being a cop in the NYC subway can be disheartening.The daily environment of the transit cop - the dirt, grime, urine, graffiti, homeless, crowds, noise, and crime is enough to stifle anyone's spirit. Throw in a hefty helping of inept leadership, ridiculous summons and arrest quotas, problems at home, and an unappreciative public and it's no wonder that some cops fall prey to cynicism, apathy and indifference. Police in New York City have a term for these burnt-out cops - hairbags. This is the story of an oddball group of misfits who patrolled New York City's subterranean underworld during the 1980s. This is Hairbag Nation.