DETROIT (WWJ) - As Detroit police continue to track down a woman who attacked a DDOT bus driver, causing a crash, passengers are speaking out about what they say is a lack of safety on city buses.
Darris Shaw lives in Ferndale and has been riding DDOT buses for years. He said the buses have cameras, but that does nothing to make him feel safe.
"They going to do it regardless. I mean, people get on the bus and roll up weed on the bus. They don't care about the cameras," Shaw told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "They smoke at the bus stop. They don't care. The Green Light thing is right there and they still smoke weed."
Shaw was quick to add that he thinks bus drivers share some of the blame in certain situations.
"Then you got some bus drivers who got some attitudes, too, and they get smart with people on the bus. Talking about, 'You better have your money out or I'm going to leave you,' and that will make people mad and then they want to fight the bus driver," he said.
Kenneth Neely, who lives in Pontiac, thinks police officers should ride the buses.
"More surveillance and police onboard. Not just patrolling but onboard, on the bus," he said. "The way the world is, you don't know who's thinking or what's being done. At any given time something could happen. Any given moment."
Even though he feels relatively safe riding city buses, James Barney agrees with Neely.
"The only way they can be safer is if they add somebody on that bus along with the bus driver. Because we have some people sometimes get on that bus with the wrong attitude and they take it out on the bus driver," he said.
Another suggestion is giving bus drivers a way to protect themselves.
"What I do think is they should let the bus driver have a Taser, not a gun. If it comes to a gun, then they should have a police officer on the bus," said a woman who only wanted to be identified as Leelee.
In the meantime, police are still trying to locate the woman who threw what looks like nachos at a bus driver before trying to pull her from the driver's seat.
Police aren't sure what caused the woman, known as Dee Dee, to walk from the back of the bus and start grabbing the driver last week while driving down Mack near Bewick on the east side. The driver lost control of the bus and crashed into a street sign and electrical box. Another passenger tried to hold Dee Dee, but she escaped through a window and hasn't been seen since.