Violent crime spiked the past few months. Between March and April of this year, Metro says, there was a 16% increase in crimes committed against people.
The three law enforcement agencies contracted to patrol Metro - the LAPD, county sheriff and Long Beach police - say 96% of the violent offenders arrested on the system between April 2023 and March 2024 didn't pay to ride.
"Criminals know if they go on to the Metro system, they may get away with stealing someone's phone or handbag or committing a more egregious crime," says Gina Osborn, former Metro chief safety and security officer. "Not every fare evader is a criminal, but pretty much every criminal is a fare evader."
And the system doesn't make it hard to evade fares, notes Genevieve Giuliano, interim dean of the USC School of Public Policy
"It's pretty easy to jump over the fare equipment," Giuliano says. "On the light rail lines, it's very easy just to walk onto a train. If we don't have that monitoring, you're not going to get caught."
Who ensures riders are paying fares?
Since 2017, it's been the job of Metro transit security officers - who are not sworn law enforcement but are Metro employees who enforce the code of conduct.
Osborn - who was Metro's chief safety and security officer for two years until she was fired back in March - believes fare enforcement is the key to making the whole system safer.
But she says there aren't enough transit security officers to make sure all passengers pay. And as long as law enforcement isn't allowed to take on that role of enforcing fares, the problem will persist.
Metro has launched a pilot program at the North Hollywood station to target fare violators.
Passengers have to not just tap in to ride, but also to exit. Transit officers are stationed at the turnstiles to make sure they do.
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins says so far, they've seen promising results.
"We've also seen a big reduction in the number of incidents reported on our transit watch app," Wiggins says. "Incidents of vandalism, concerns about safety and security have gone down by 50%. And of course with the additional presence we've seen, we're seeing a reduction in overall crime."
As Metro continues to expand bus and rail service, Wiggins says the agency has a forecasted operating budget deficit of more than $1 billion over the next few years.
So as much as Metro would like to expand tap-in, tap-out at every station, it's costly. But expect to see the program at larger, end-of-line stations.
Wiggins says her top priority is safety and the recent surge in law enforcement has worked. But that's temporary, as a historic change is underway for how the system is policed.
"While we value the relationship we have with our law enforcement partners, there are some constraints with the outsourcing model," Wiggins says. "It's not just a challenge today, it's been a challenge for the last 30 years."
New model for policing
That's why Wiggins recommended the Metro board approve the establishment of a dedicated internal police force to replace the current contracts with the three outside agencies. It's expected to save Metro as much as $26 million a year, but will take five years to establish.
Osborn says that's the right move.
"Metro has three different agencies doing a patchwork approach to law enforcement and they're more responsive and less reactive," Osborn says. "It has not worked. They need a police department that is going to be transit-oriented. Right now you have three municipal agencies who are taking their culture of working in a municipal environment and taking it to the transit system."
Wiggins, who recently gave up her car and rides Metro to work most days, believes all the little things the system is doing to secure access points - fare enforcement, adding cameras, lighting and new fortified turnstiles to prevent people from jumping over - will collectively improve safety.
"There's not one single solution to address the multi-faceted complex challenges we're facing on our system - namely because a lot of the incidents on our system reflect what's happening on our streets that are spilling over onto our system," Wiggins says. "So we have a multi-layered approach. We're focusing on how do we have the right resource for the right response. In some instances we need law enforcement. In other instances we need homeless outreach. In other instances we need ambassadors, transit security officers, technology improvements."
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