Frustrated that too many people feel unsafe on its buses and trains, and dissatisfied with the law enforcement agencies that have been patrolling the system, Metro's board of directors on Thursday will consider creating its own internal police force.
While there are legitimate concerns about the cost and logistics of building a police department from scratch, including Metro's ability to hire staff at a time when agencies are struggling to hire officers, contracting for police services is not going well. . It's time to try a different approach. Metro faces a fatalistic spiral if it cannot make the system safer and increase ridership. An internal police force is not a panacea for all the system's ills, but rather one piece of a broader security strategy that ensures that passengers feel comfortable and well cared for on Los Angeles public transportation.
This is not a new idea. Metro and its predecessor agency, the Southern California Rapid Transit District, had his own police department for yearsTheir officers were specifically recruited, hired and trained to address the code of conduct and quality of life issues that still make up the majority of complaints from bus and train users, such as homeless people sleeping on seats, people experiencing a mental health crisis, loud music, smoking, drinking and drug use.
The internal department was dissolved nearly 30 years ago in a restructuring that had as much to do with politics as public safety.
The then mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan, had promised during the election campaign to hire 3,000 new LAPD officers. The city didn't have the money to pay for the expansion, but the Metropolitan Transportation Authority did: revenue from a sales tax increase voters approved in 1990 for public transportation. Riordan, along with then-Sheriff Sherman Block, led the effort eliminate the transit police department and divide law enforcement duties, personnel and funds between the Los Angeles County Sheriff and the Los Angeles police departments, which would serve Metro through contracts.
At the time, proponents argued that the deal would be cheaper and that Metro would benefit from having large law enforcement agencies. However, some board members warned that Metro lose the capacity decide how officers would be deployed, that traffic safety would be treated as a low priority and passengers would suffer. That is exactly what has happened, according to some board members.
Metro has changed contracts a couple of times over three decades and increased funding to address declining ridership and passenger complaints about poor security. But even as it doubled the number of armed officers on the system, riders continued to complain about a lack of visible security, while drug use, disorder and violent crime rose.
This is a critical moment for Metro. Voters have approved billions of dollars in sales taxes to expand the bus and train system, which is supposed to be the backbone of the “car-free” Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. But people won't use even She will support public transportation if she doesn't feel comfortable. on buses and trains.
Executive Director Stephanie Wiggins and her staff have advocated for an internal police force because it would give Metro full authority over all aspects of public safety. Metro currently directly supervises ambassadors who provide customer service, transit safety officers who check fares and issue tickets for code violations, and homeless outreach teams.
But policing is divided among three agencies, and soon there will be four when the D/Purple Line stations open in Beverly Hills, which has its own police department. Metropolitan leaders say they can't monitor or even direct where and how officers are deployed, and that makes it harder to respond quickly to security issues. Capt. Shawn Kehoe, who oversees the Sheriff's Transit Services Bureau, said his agency has never said “no” to Metro when leaders ask for help.
Metro leaders also argue that having an internal police force would allow the agency to hire and train officers to be customer-oriented and focused. Mayor Karen Bass said she is leaning toward an in-house transit police agency because she wants Metro to create a culture of public safety, “where there are a lot of social services and the officers that come to work for Metro come because they want to do something new.” . not when you try to convince someone to unlearn what he has done for decades.”
That is the right goal, but it is not easy. There are still unanswered questions that the board must address.
Metro staff has recommended maintaining the same number of sworn staff currently assigned to the system each day, which would require hiring more than 600 officers over five years and increasing the number of ambassadors, homeless caseworkers and emergency physicians. mental health, but this is expected to cost less than current contracts. Is this an achievable goal when the LAPD and Sheriff's Department have struggled to recruit to the point that Bass and the City Council increased the LAPD's salary and bonuses last year to help with recruiting? There is also a shortage of social workers and mental health experts.
Is the schedule realistic? The 2028 Olympic Games will take place in the middle of this five-year transition. How will that work? And, transportation equity advocates argue, money for public safety hiring comes from Metro's operating budget, so any increase in police spending could decrease the money available for more frequent buses and trains.
After 30 years of contracting with outside law enforcement agencies with mixed success, it's time for Metro to look for new ways to keep riders safe and secure. This time, public safety should take precedence over political considerations and the board should move forward with creating an internal police force.
