The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) June 22 voted to move forward with a plan to create its own public safety department.
The agency’s board of directors voted to have staff present a comprehensive plan—including department structure, regulatory rules, job descriptions, and pay ranges—for the board to consider in January 2024.
“[We need to] look at how we can reconfigure our public safety model because I don’t think what we had necessarily worked for everybody in our system,” Hilda Solis, Los Angeles County Supervisor and MTA board director, said during the meeting.
Should the plan ultimately be approved, the safety department would supersede existing contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Long Beach Police Department, which are currently responsible for patrolling Metro buses, trains, and stations.
A Los Angeles Metro bus passes by the headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 8, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Having its own security department will give the agency more control over training and positioning its officers, allowing safety measures to be better implemented, according to a 27-page feasibility study done by the agency.
The study also suggests that such a change could provide the agency with better fiscal sustainability as compared to rising costs with the law enforcement agencies it currently contracts.
Additionally, the study indicated that an in-house department can speed up response time to calls.
However, it pointed out that the change could lead to increased insurance costs for employees, staffing difficulties, and legal challenges. It could also take between three to five years to develop a fully staffed safety department.
The Los Angeles Metro line transit system in Los Angeles on April 19, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Safety Concerns
This is not the agency’s first attempt to address safety concerns as crime, drug overdose deaths, and homeless concerns have increased over the last few years.Previously, the MTA has deployed other unarmed safety personnel like transit security officers, ambassadors, and homeless outreach teams.
According to LAPD data, there are over 1,300 cases of violent crime reported on Metro properties over the last 12 months—about 15 percent higher than before the pandemic.
A homeless man sleeps on a bench at a Los Angeles Metro station in Los Angeles on April 19, 2023. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Last week, a bus driver was stabbed, marking the second attack on a Metro driver in a month. A 17-year-old was arrested for stabbing a bus driver earlier in May.
Over 20 people have died on the system’s buses and trains this year, mostly from suspected overdoses, according to the agency.
Ridership has also been declining due to safety concerns, with nearly 10 million fewer riders on average between 2020–23 across the system compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to data from LA Metro.
Nationwide, six of the 10 largest transportation agencies have created their own police department, including the Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York City and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, according to the LA Metro study.
