Meeting_Body
SYSTEM SAFETY, SECURITY AND OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: MONTHLY UPDATE ON TRANSIT POLICING PERFORMANCE
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE monthly update on Transit Policing performance.
Issue
ISSUE
On September 4, 2014, the board requested that staff provide a monthly update on transit policing performance to Systems Safety and Operations Committee. Specifically, the board requested monthly updates on criminal activity, fare enforcement, response time, deployment and perception of safety.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
In December 2015, staff continues to be proactive in working with Operations, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), and Communications in addressing perception of safety, criminal activity, fare enforcement, response time, and deployment. Below are the key highlights:
Actions to Improve the Ridership Experience
• Staff is working with Communications to develop a marketing campaign for the Transit Watch Los Angeles app which includes a Facebook promotion. Staff is continuing to increase presence on the system using new technologies and redeployment of personnel.
• High Visibility
• Transit Security Officers (TSO) and Los Angeles County Sheriffs have been engaging and interacting with patrons and operators to increase presence and increase the perception of safety on the Metro system.
o TSO Bus Boarding Activity: The total number of TSO Bus Boardings for the months of December is 2,174. The total number of fare checks is 12,138.
o LASD Bus Riding Team (BRT): The total number of BRT Bus Rides for the months of December 2015 is 1,102. The total number of fare checks is 53,724.
Criminal Activity:
DECEMBER 2015
Bus Operator Assaults:
• Comparing January-December 2014 to January-December 2015, there has been a 18% increase of operator assaults. Of the 167 total operator assaults for January-December 2015, 60% of the Aggravated Assaults, 31.9% of the Non-Aggravated Assaults, 75% of the Robberies, and 40% of the sex crimes have had a suspect taken into custody. The majority of bus operator assaults are fare related followed by no reason and disorderly conduct.
• Attachment B contains the matrix for the suspects who have assaulted Bus Operators that LASD has been tracking.
• Of the 167 total operator assaults from January-December 2015, there were 20 Aggravated Assaults, 138 Non-Aggravated Assaults, 4 Robberies, and 5 Sex Crimes. Of the 167 assaults, 74 suspects used their hands/feet for the method of assault, followed by 47 suspects spitting, 16 throwing food or liquid, 12 using a weapon, 11 throwing other objects, 2 pepper spray and 5 sexual harassment incidents.
• From January-December 2015, there have been 450,149,732 bus boardings and 167 total operator assaults, equating to 1 bus operator assault per 2.6 million boardings.
Operator Safety:
• As of January 22, 2016, New Flyer has installed video monitors on over 433 Metro buses, and operator barriers on 288 Metro buses.
• In September 2015, Metro’s Board of Directors approved a contract modification to have all New Flyer 5600 and 3850 series buses retrofit with both operator barriers and video monitors. When this retrofit is complete in late 2016, all 900 New Flyer buses ordered under contract OP33202869 will have video monitors and operator barriers installed.
LASD Success Stories
• 12/08/2015 - An 18 year old woman was assaulted and robbed while riding a northbound Metro Blue Line train between 3:30 and 3:45 PM. The suspect approached the victim and began punching her in the face and body. The crime was captured by the trains’ on board video system, and by cell phone taken by a possible co-conspirator who posted the video on social media. In the videos a second, 17 year old female, can also be seen attacking the victim, repeatedly punching and kicking her.
The LASD Transit Policing Division did not receive the report from the victim until the next day. LASD Transit Crime Impact Team #1, and Detectives quickly began their investigation into the crimes. Using various investigative techniques, including combing social media, they were able to not only identify the female suspects, but also a 15 year old juvenile, who is the brother of the 17 year old female attacker. He can be heard on video threatening a patron who was attempting to call the police.
The victim indicated that when the train stopped at the Del Amo Station, she attempted to flee. Then a second assault occurred and more of her property was taken. On Thursday, December 10th, Transit Policing deputies took the two female suspects into custody. Both were charged with violation of 211 PC, Robbery, and 245(a)(4) PC, Assault with a Deadly Weapon likely to produce Great Bodily Injury. The suspect was booked at the Century Regional Detention Facility, and the 17 year old was booked at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall due to being a minor. The 15 year old brother of the 17 year old female suspect who was heard threatening the Metro patron, was taken into custody on Monday, December 14, 2015 and is being charged with violations of 136.1(b)(1) PC, Attempting to Prevent or Dissuade a Witness from Calling the Police, and 245(a)(4) PC, Assault with a Deadly Weapon likely to produce Great Bodily Injury. He too was booked at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.
• 12/23/2015 - LASD Transit Bureau North Captain Jennifer Bateman was joined by Red Line Sector Lieutenant Michael Mendoza, and several Transit North Bureau Deputies and Security Assistant/Fare Inspectors, to bring a little joy to the children at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, Pediatric wards on Wednesday December 23, 2015. Transit Bureau North is one of the LASD bureaus that provides’ police services to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (Metro) buses, trains, and properties. Many of these families use Metro to get to and from work, school, or their doctors’ appointments.
Long time Sheriff’s Security Assistant/Fare Inspector Maria Carlin, led the effort to get as many toy donations as possible. Carlin, along with North Bureau Sergeant Mauricio Avola, contacted Kaiser to see if they had a need for the toys that would be donated and collected. Bonnie Lindquist, who coordinates quality of pediatric patient care for Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles, was very receptive due to the large number of children that would have to spend the holidays in the hospital. Support for the toy drive by Transit Bureau North personnel was overwhelming with hundreds of toys and gifts being collected, but how to distribute them? Enter 6’7” Security Assistant/Fare Inspector Jerry Rocha dressed as Santa Claus. The children and their parents lit up as the larger than life Santa would enter their rooms with a believable “Ho-Ho-Ho Merry Christmas”. Medical Center staff and Transit Sheriff’s personnel alike were visibly moved by the reactions of the children.
Fare Enforcement:
• In December 2015, law enforcement performed 615,622 fare checks on the rails and Orange Line. In comparison, law enforcement performed 625,611 fare checks on the rails and Orange Line in December 2014. Based on the monthly targets, in December 2015 law enforcement had a 1% higher saturation rate despite the decline in fares checked compared to December 2014.
Response Time:
• In December 2015, the average response time for “Calls for Service” (Emergency, Priority and Routine) for all rail lines and buses was 17.2 minutes.
• LASD currently complies with Metro’s Performance Metrics requirement of average of 30 minutes for calls for service. The response time for emergency calls was 6.5 minutes for December 2015.
Attachments
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A - Transit Policing Division Report December 2015
Attachment B - Matrix of Bus Operator Assault Suspects
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Alex Wiggins, EO System Security and Law Enforcement, (213) 922-4433
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by:
Stephanie Wiggins, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, (213) 922-1023
