LA Metro will establish its own police force as it struggles with violent attacks, increased ridership

L.A. Metro’s board of directors voted Thursday to establish an in-house police force amid growing dissatisfaction with the current policing strategy and a series of violent assaults against passengers and operators.

Metro’s plan will be implemented in three phases over five years — coinciding with the arrival of millions visitors for the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A.

About the in-house police force plan

With its own public safety department, Metro plans to continue a daily deployment of 386 armed law enforcement officers. But the agency also plans to increase the number of care based workers to 673.

The plan is expected to save Metro $26 million in fees that it currently pays to agencies like the LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Department for patrols (the total tab for fiscal year 2024 was $194 million). The agency plans to use those savings to hire transit ambassadors, crisis interventionists and other outreach workers.

The backstory

Over the past three months Metro has been plagued with a spate of violent crimes as ridership levels increase. The latest data show there was an 18.9% decrease in crimes overall on the system in April, but from March to April, crimes against people increased by 16%. January had the highest amount of overall crimes this year.

Meanwhile, ridership levels are increasing monthly, with 26 million boardings in April, up 10% from same period last year.

The board has been questioning the effectiveness of their current public safety model, citing lack of oversight, inconsistent communication and enforcement.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, who serves as Metro's board chair, ordered a surge of law enforcement in May in response to the violent attacks in part because CEO Stephanie Wiggins did not have the same authority.

“I mean, it's kind of like a divorce, actually, where you still love each other, but certain things have gotten in the way," board member Ara Najarian said.

While the vote was unanimous, some members, including L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn and L.A. City Council President Paul Krekorian, expressed concerns about making the transition, but ultimately agreed with the move.

“In the time that we've been here, we've changed destinations a few times on how we deliver law enforcement on this system, and there's no reason that we couldn't do that again," Krekorian said.

Community reaction

Public comments on the plan at Thursday's meeting were mixed.

Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) reviewed the plan and held a listening session last fall to gather rider feedback. According to PSAC Chair Jeremy Oliver-Ronceros, riders said they wanted more visibility of safety officers.

It was also welcomed by Julio Mejia, a bus driver and member of the SMART-TD Union that represents the operators.

“Our members and other frontline staff are out there everyday bearing the brunt of the issues we’re seeing in the city streets," he said. "We need a public safety team that is in it with us.”

But Brenda Jackson, an organizer of Community Power Collective, spoke out against the plan, saying it still prioritizes policing over caring.

“I’m more interested to know what is Metro’s five-year plan to staff up transit ambassadors, to be aboard every bus and train and also have housing and mental health outreach workers on every bus line,” she said.

Metro's history with in-house police officers

This wouldn’t be the first time Los Angeles’ transit system had its own police department. The Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD) had its own police force from 1978 to 1997. (Metro merged with SCRTD in 1993.)

But the force was small, with just 500 officers managing 2,600 buses and 220 bus lines.

When former Mayor Richard Riordan ran for office in 1993, he promised to add more police officers to patrol the buses and trains. Over time the SRTD police force was dismantled, and patrolling the Metro system was shared between the Long Beach and L.A. police departments.