A 30-year-old man was arrested Feb. 15 on suspicion of attacking a female Metro ambassador in Little Tokyo earlier that day.

According to LAPD’s Transit Services Division, the suspect approached the ambassador around 7:30 a.m. on the station platform, and without provocation, punched her in the face. She suffered a swollen cheek and chipped tooth, police said.

By the afternoon, detectives found the suspect walking in an adjacent area, identifying him by “the same unique clothing” he’d been wearing at the time of the attack.

Police charged the suspect, identified as Peter Pedroche, with felony battery and set bail at $50,000. According to LA Sheriff’s Department records, Mr. Pedroche has several previous arrests, including one for battery.

Ambassadors are unarmed Metro employees who ride the transit system, offering help to passengers and acting as liaison for complaints and safety issues. According to Metro, they are part of a “human-centric” and “multilayered plan to reimagine public safety,” along with law enforcement, homeless outreach, more frequent cleaning, and the addition of security cameras.

Facing the nightmare of plummeting ridership, skyrocketing overdoses and violent crime in recent years, Metro deployed ambassadors to boost safety and security without adding police.

Metro officials say one of the ambassadors’ most important roles is making riders feel safer.

A homeless man sleeps on a Metro train in Los Angeles on April 19, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

The transit system launched the plan in March 2023 as a three-to-five-year pilot program with 300 ambassadors and a $122 million budget, but in October the Board of Directors voted unanimously to make the program a permanent feature.

From the start, some saw the move to replace law enforcement with unarmed ambassadors as ill-advised, and bound to result in increased crime and passenger anxiety.

“Metro’s safety plan is nothing more than woke wishful thinking that minimizes the presence of law enforcement at the expense of passengers and ambassadors alike,” former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told The Epoch Times.

“Ambassadors offer nothing to passengers in terms of safety but provide virtue signaling to the Board of Directors,” he said.

Former Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva uses the Los Angeles Metro system in Los Angeles on April 19, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Ara Najarian, chair of the Metro Board of Directors and Glendale city councilman, told The Epoch Times he was originally skeptical of the ambassador program.

“I was probably the most vocal calling for only armed law enforcement officers, be they sheriffs, LAPD, our own armed force, or whatever,” Mr. Najarian said.

But since implementing the program nearly a year ago, he explained, he’s come to view their unique value in a “multi-leveled” system, which has been well-received by the public.

“Yes, they’re not armed, they can’t arrest, they can’t apprehend. But they do present us with a very friendly frontline employee who knows the system, who can help people unsure of where they’re going,” Mr. Najarian said, adding that ambassadors do provide some deterrent to criminal activities.

“But [regarding] this event that happened, I believe the suspect was probably homeless or mentally challenged, and I think even an armed officer would’ve provided a target for him. The good news is we did catch him. Our thoughts are out to the ambassador. We hope she recovers quickly,” he said.

The Los Angeles Metro Line transit system in Los Angeles on April 19, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

In August 2023, the agency’s Public Safety Advisory Committee held a “listening session” to hear public concerns about security. According to media reports, some committee members openly criticized Metro’s approach to addressing crime, advocating increased and more visible law enforcement.

In March of last year, LAPD data showed a rise in violent crime reported at Metro properties over pre-pandemic levels. According to 2023 Metro crime summaries for the past five years, systemwide aggravated assaults nearly doubled from 2019 to 2023(reporting period January to August). Specifically on the rail system, battery increased to 468 incidents in 2023, from 350 in 2019.

But Metro announced this month that ridership increased 11.6 percent in 2023 over 2022.

Ambassadors complete an 80-hour training that includes emergency preparedness, cultural and public safety awareness, implicit bias, CPR, trauma-informed response, and conflict de-escalation. In April of last year, the agency also began equipping them with Narcan to help prevent lethal overdoses.

On average Metro deploys 236 ambassadors daily to locations “where customer safety concerns have been the greatest,” with 81 percent deployed to rail lines and stations, and the rest on bus lines.

Ara Najarian, director of the Metro Board, told The Epoch Times he was originally skeptical of the ambassador program.

“I was probably the most vocal calling for only armed law enforcement officers, be they sheriffs, LAPD, our own armed force or whatever,” Najarian said.

But since implementing the program nearly a year ago, he explained, he’s come to view their unique value in a “multi-leveled” system, which has been well-received by the public.

“Yes, they’re not armed, they can’t arrest, they apprehend. But they do present us with a very friendly frontline employee who knows the system, who can help people unsure of where they’re going,” Najarian said, adding that ambassadors do provide some deterrent.

“But this event that happened, I believe the suspect was probably homeless or mentally  challenged, and I think even an armed officer would’ve provided a target for him. The good news is we did catch him. Our thoughts out to the ambassador, we hope she recovers quickly.”