Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass ordered an immediate “surge” of police presence on the Metro transit system on Thursday in response to the ongoing violence on buses and trains.
"Yesterday, as chair of the board of Metro, I directed an immediate surge of law enforcement personnel on Metro buses and rail cars and stations," she said Thursday. "Today, we are following that action with a motion to work to make Angelenos, our riders, and our operators feel safe on the system."
Bass, who chairs the Metro Board of Directors, said she’ll present a motion to the board next week that increases police deployment on Metro and establishes a “unified command” of the various law enforcement agencies that police the transit system. It also aims to make sure cell service is working at all underground rail stations and platforms so passengers can call for help immediately.
The most recent disturbance on the Metro happened Thursday morning, hours before Bass’ press conference. Two people were taken into custody for allegedly trespassing in an emergency tunnel area at a Metro station in downtown L.A.
Earlier this week, three people were stabbed in separate attacks. Last month, a woman was stabbed to death at the Universal City/Studio City station.
Supervisor Janice Hahn, who serves as the vice chair of the Metro Board, said having extra police presence is crucial.
“We need law enforcement riding our buses and our trains. It does not do our riders any good if officers remain in their squad cars,” she said. “The violence against our riders in recent days and we demand an urgent response.”
But Eric Mann, co-chair of the Bus Riders Union, said more police isn’t the answer. He said the system should instead hire community organizers who are trained to de-escalate situations before they turn violent.
“We know how to solve these problems. The police do not,” he said.
In an interview with KNX News on Wednesday, Metro’s former public safety chief Gina Osborn said that before her termination in March, she observed multiple incidents where officers were missing from their posts or failed to protect riders. On one occasion, five LAPD officers walked past a man who died on a platform bench without stopping to check on him.
“As tax-paying citizens, I would be very concerned that over $200 million is going to these law enforcement agencies and they aren't where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there,” she said.
Osborn was fired days after raising her concerns with the Inspector General.
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