Los Angeles Metro considering creating its own police force

Citing a rise in violent, high-profile episodes on buses and trains throughout Los Angeles, the Metro Board will hear proposals to create an in-house police force on Thursday.

The Metro’s interest in dedicated officers patrolling its vehicles comes as safety measures have come under scrutiny in recent months.

“Let me begin by being absolutely unequivocally clear: the spike in violent crime on Metro that we have recently seen against operators and riders has been absolutely unacceptable,” L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said last month.

The Board of Directors will hear four different proposals Thursday with the intent of selecting one. If passed, it would take about five years for the agency to fully implement the new police department, according to KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos.

“If [Metro passes a proposal], it’s an acknowledgment that the status quo will no longer work because what we’re seeing now, those violent incidents … that general feeling of fear not only expressed on behalf of passengers, but on behalf of board officials,” Ramos said.

In April, Metro Board Member Kathryn Barger said she wouldn’t ride Metro alone anymore due to her fears of violent acts.

Several people have lost their lives in Metro-related instances of violence this year.

Just on Tuesday, a person was fatally stabbed after stepping off of a Metro bus in South L.A. In April, 67-year-old Mirna Soza Arauz was stabbed to death in the throat on a Metro train in Studio City. Her accused killer is facing murder charges.

Metro’s current system consists of contracting three different law enforcement agencies — Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department — to keep its vehicles safe, but the lack of a centralized unit has led to lapses in public safety.

Majority of Metro riders in favor of keeping budget mostly unchanged

Those law enforcement contracts cost about $194 million per year. The potential costs of the proposals being heard on Thursday range from $155 million to $214 million.

The Southern California Rapid Transit District, which merged into Metro in 1993, operated its own police force between 1978 and 1997. Several major transit agencies throughout the U.S. currently operate police departments, like the Bay Area’s BART, Massachusetts’ MBTA and Washington DC’s WMATA.

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