Signaling a sea change in the way L.A. County’s transit system is policed, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board has approved a new multi-million dollar law enforcement contract with three separate law enforcement agencies to help keep the ever-expanding Metro system safe.
Under the new contract, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will retain law enforcement duties within major parts of the county, the Los Angeles Police Department will take over enforcement within City of L.A. borders, and the Long Beach Police Department will patrol rail transit services within its own city. About one-third of the Metro Blue Line operates in Long Beach. More than 60 percent of Metro buses and nearly 50 percent of Metro Rail Lines operate within the City of Los Angeles.
The move is anticipated to markedly increase the number of police on the Metro system to provide a greater, more visible “felt presence” of police to help deter criminal activity on Metro buses and trains. It also intended to expedite law enforcement response times to incidents, as these local police forces will be responding from within their own jurisdictions. Response times are expected to be reduced from an average of 16 minutes today to five or six minutes.
Increases in law enforcement personnel should now increase from a range of 140 to 200 today to a consistent 314 personnel over each 24-hour period. Metro will also now be able to take advantage of no-cost basic 911 police services.
The multi-agency contract, effective July 1, 2017, allocates $246.3 million to L.A. County, $30.1 million to the City of Long Beach, and $369.3 million to the City of Los Angeles for a five-year period. Together, all law enforcement contracts total $645.7 million.
“Our ability to increase our collaboration with additional law enforcement partners will yield an increased safety and security presence,” said John Fasana, Metro board chair and Duarte city mayor Pro Tem. “The Metro System is safe today, but we want to make it even safer and more secure as we continue to expand transit options throughout the county.”
Total reported bus and rail crimes are down systemwide since January 2016. While Metro is seeing improvements, it is dedicated to implementing a range of new safety and security measures that will help draw riders back to the system.
“Our overriding goal here is to ensure our transit riders can ride and work safely — without fear — 100 percent of the time” said Phillip A. Washington, Metro CEO. “Increasing our partnership with local law enforcement agencies is one important part of a multi-layered approach that also includes integrating technology and coordinating closely with our federal agency partners to help keep the Metro System safe.”
The new contract will also ensure greater contract compliance through clear performance metrics and accountability measures for law enforcement agencies.
“I look forward to partnering with three of the nation’s finest police agencies to keep our passengers and employees safe,” said Alex Wiggins, Metro’s chief of systems security and law enforcement.
Metro performed an in-depth review of the security and policing strategy in developing its new law enforcement contract. The agency conferred with industry experts, policing professionals and an Ad-Hoc Transit Policing Committee to devise the best strategies for improving system safety and security.
Metro carries approximately 1.3 million riders per day on its bus and rail system.
