Metro - File #: 2024-0089

• File #: 2024-0089
• Type: Informational Report
• Status: Agenda Ready
• File created: 2/5/2024
• In control: Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee
• On agenda: 3/21/2024
• Title: RECEIVE AND FILE the Public Safety Report.
• Sponsors: Board of Directors - Regular Board Meeting
• Indexes: 7th Street/Metro Center Station, APU/Citrus College Station, Assembly Bill 468, Azusa Downtown Station, Barriers (Roads), Call For Projects, Certification, City of Los Angeles, Cleanliness (Graffiti Abatement), Customer service, Del Amo Station, Division 21, Gateway Cities (Southeast LA County) Service Sector, Gateway Cities subregion, Graffiti, Grand Ave Arts/Bunker Hill Station, Homeless Outreach, Informational Report, It's Off Limits, Law enforcement, Lincoln/Cypress Station, Little Tokyo/Arts District Station, Long Beach, Long Beach Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriffs Department, Los Angeles Union Station, Maintenance, Metro Divisions, Metro Rail A Line, Metro Rail B Line, Metro Rail C Line, Metro Rail D Line, Metro Rail E Line, Metro Transit Ambassadors, Operation LA Metro Homeless Outreach, Outreach, Pico Station, Plan, Safety, Safety and security, Security, Statistics, System safety, Systems analysis, Theft, Transit buses, Transit Homeless Action Plan, Transit System, Uniform Crime Reporting, Vermont/Santa Monica Station, Volume, Weapons, Westlake/Macarthur Park Station, Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station, Wilshire/Vermont Station, Wilshire/Western Station

Meeting_Body

OPERATIONS, SAFETY, AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMMITTEE

MARCH 21, 2024

Subject

SUBJECT:                     MONTHLY UPDATE ON PUBLIC SAFETY

Action

ACTION:                     RECEIVE AND FILE

Heading

RECOMMENDATION

Title

RECEIVE AND FILE the Public Safety Report.

Issue
ISSUE

Metro is committed to providing outstanding trip experiences for all transportation system users. In furtherance of the Vision 2028 Plan, Metro implemented a multi-faceted plan to improve safety and safety perceptions for riders and employees. The following summarizes current initiatives to accomplish this objective and recent public safety trends.

Background

BACKGROUND

Within Metro’s Public Safety Mission statement, the agency recognizes that each individual is entitled to a safe, dignified, and human experience. In March 2023, the Board adopted a revised Code of Conduct, a Bias-Free Policing Policy, and a Public Safety Analytics Policy to avert racial profiling and bias in the deployment of Metro security and law enforcement services. Furthermore, since July 2023, Metro has been using a multi-layered deployment model to utilize all resources from the public safety ecosystem.

These actions align with numerous initiatives to improve safety and the perception of safety on the system, including the increased, strategic, and layered deployment of personnel (comprised of customer-centered ambassadors and community intervention specialists, as well as transit security, private security, and law enforcement officers) and the piloting of safety and security interventions to address specific concerns (e.g., drug use and crime) on the system.

Discussion
DISCUSSION

System Security & Law Enforcement (SSLE) is responsible for overseeing safety initiatives on the Metro system and works in coordination with other departments, including Operations and Customer Experience, to implement strategies to advance this objective. SSLE forms the foundation of Metro’s multi-layered approach to safety and security, focused specifically on protecting our customers and employees by preventing and addressing crime on our system, enforcing Metro’s Code of Conduct, ensuring the safety of our facilities, directing the deployment of law enforcement and private security presence throughout the system, and proactively identifying and addressing areas of possible concern.

The following is a snapshot of activities and performance and outcome-related data for January, the most recent month for which systemwide law enforcement data is available.

DEPLOYMENTS AND TRENDS

Metro continues to incorporate enhancements and find proactive ways that our safety and security model can address evolving common community issues displayed on our system. The agency’s multi-layered approach continues to strategically address challenges, as reflected in the recent crime data with declines in serious crimes and the constant pursuit of increased arrests for trespassing and drug use on the system.   

SSLE’s steady coordination with our law enforcement partners, contract security, transit security, and other multi-layered partners allowed for strategic safety and security operations to be incorporated, enhanced, and continued. In December 2023, we demonstrated the success of the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment, with increased enforcement resulting in a reduction of serious crime systemwide. January presented an opportunity to see whether the success would continue into the new year. So far, a reduction in serious crime on the system has continued. The success of the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment further provided an opportunity to reflect on January 2023. A year ago, Metro had been impacted by significant drug use and crime and lacked holistic enforcement and a fully cohesive multi-layered deployment. Data from this January demonstrates a tangible example of how collaborative efforts have resulted in a safer and more secure system.  In addition, we saw calls for service increase significantly in the fall of 2023, from 1,381 in September 2023 to 3,483 in October 2023 (an increase of 152%).  Since then, calls for service have remained relatively high in comparison to prior years, and we credit this to the increased visibility of our security and law enforcement personnel systemwide.

Systemwide Crime Stats

The following represents crime statistics and data analysis for the month of January 2024.

In January, ridership was 24,024,647, an increase of 2.8% from December 2023 (23,362,749) and an increase of 13.1% from January 2023 (21,234,326). Crimes Against Persons systemwide went down 12.0% in January compared to December 2023 (154 vs. 175) and down 16.8% from a year ago in January 2023 (154 vs. 185). By mode, this correlates to a decrease in Crimes Against Persons of 27.0% (81 vs. 111) on the rail system in January 2024 when compared to December 2023, with specific declines in aggravated assaults (16 vs. 29) and robberies (12 vs. 19). When compared to January 2023, Crimes Against Persons on the rail system decreased by 36.2% (81 vs. 127) in January 2024.

By contrast, Crimes Against Persons on the bus system increased by 14% (73 vs. 64) in January 2024 when compared to December 2023. This is due to an increase in batteries (46 vs. 36) and a slight uptick in aggravated assaults (13 vs. 11). Meanwhile, robberies decreased on the bus system by 46.2% (7 vs. 13). When compared to January 2023, Crimes Against Persons on the bus system increased by 25.9% in January 2024. This is due to increases in aggravated assaults (13 vs. 11), batteries (46 vs. 41), and robberies (7 vs. 4). 

Enforcement-related arrests for trespassing and narcotics resulted in a 16.5% increase (460 vs. 395) in Crimes Against Society systemwide. The enhanced efforts of law enforcement, transit security, and contract security in critical areas led to a 17.3% increase (373 vs. 318) in trespassing arrests and a 15% increase (69 vs. 60) in narcotics arrests in January 2024 versus December 2023. On the rail system, Crimes Against Society saw increases in trespassing arrests of 16.7% (371 vs. 318), narcotics arrests of 23.5% (63 vs. 51), and weapons arrests of 50.0% (15 vs. 10). When compared to January 2023, Crimes Against Society on the rail system increased by 780.4% (449 vs. 51) in January 2024 due to the increase in narcotics, trespassing, and weapon arrests. On the bus system, Crimes Against Society decreased by 31.3% when compared to December 2023 (11 vs. 16). When compared to January 2023, Crimes Against Society decreased by 38.9% in January 2024. 

In January, our law enforcement partners conducted task forces and operations on the system in response to data analysis that identified certain problem areas. Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Special Problems Unit (SPU) conducted three task forces on the B Line. The SPU team was responsible for making significant arrests, including several arrests for possession of concealed firearms, possession of firearms during the sales of narcotics, possession of methamphetamines, and arrests for organized retail theft. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) conducted undercover operations on the Metro system. The Transit Services Bureau (TSB), in conjunction with LASD’s Human Trafficking Task Force, conducted a plain clothes operation at the C Line Long Beach Blvd Station. The operation resulted in several arrests of suspects soliciting decoys for prostitution in and around Metro’s property, particularly at bus stops and layovers. In addition, LASD conducted two plain clothes operations at the A Line Azusa Downtown Station. The operation called for plain clothes personnel to observe individuals committing crimes and the use of any controlled substance(s) at this station, resulting in several arrests of suspects.

In January 2024, Crimes Against Persons per 1 million boardings decreased by 14.4% compared to December 2023 (see table below).

When comparing January 2024 to one year ago, we see that Crimes Against Persons per 1 million boardings have decreased by 26.4% (see table below).

Deployment Results

The following reflects the results of the deployment for the month of January and the effects of preventing and reducing crime on the system.                      

Law Enforcement

LAPD, LASD, and LBPD enforce the penal code on the system, including conducting trespass investigations. Ejections represent law enforcement engagements during trespass investigations in which an individual is removed after determining they did not possess a TAP Card or pay fare to access the rail or bus system. 

 *Law enforcement citations and warnings are not related to fare but for trespassing, loitering, and moving violations.

Law enforcement homeless outreach data has been omitted from this report as staff works to align how homeless outreach data is defined and reported. Currently, each law enforcement partner defines their outreach efforts differently, which can make it challenging to demonstrate the impact of their work across the system. Once the data has been aligned, staff will resume reporting. 

End of Line

Contract security (CS) officers offload trains at the end-of-line (EOL) stations and provide security support for maintenance employees while performing their duties. CS cleared 18,363 trains and offloaded 28,363 patrons during January. The significant increase directly correlates with adding three stations to the end-of-line initiative. The three end-of-line stations added were Atlantic, APU/Citrus College, and Wilshire/Western Stations. There is also a direct correlation between the increase in train clearing and offloading.

CS shares their observations during weekly Multi-Layered Planned Deployment meetings with Metro Homeless Outreach and law enforcement partners. CS observations are compared with feedback from Metro Blue Shirts and Transit Ambassadors to understand where unhoused riders require the most resources. The table below reflects the entirety of the homeless outreach efforts throughout January’s Multi-Layered Planned Deployment.

Metro Homeless Outreach has fixed posts at key EOL stations within the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment. Staff currently provides support for six EOL stations (Union Station, Downtown Santa Monica, Downtown Long Beach, Atlantic, North Hollywood, and APU/Citrus). The efforts at EOL account for 1,462 (71%) of 2,047 total engagements during the month of January. The table below reflects the outreach efforts at EOL stations.

 

Transit Security

The primary role of Metro Transit Security (MTS) in the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment is Code of Conduct enforcement. Since the onset of the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment, SSLE has noted that 96% of the Code of Conduct violations cited on the system have been for fare evasion since the revised Code of Conduct was incorporated in June 2023. In January, MTS officers issued 118 citations and 151 written warnings for Code of Conduct violations. Of those, 260 (97%) were due to individuals failing to provide proof of fare. The remaining citations and written warnings issued in January were for Code of Conduct violations: throwing objects, smoking/vaping, urination/defecation, and failure to comply with a lawful order. The numbers reflect MTS's continued efforts to deter those attempting to access the system for non-transit purposes in violation of the Code of Conduct. Code of Conduct enforcement is critical to maintaining order on the system and deterring non-destination travelers.

Operator Safety

In January, operator assaults decreased by one assault when compared to December 2023 (16 vs. 17). Using hands (punch, slap), spitting on the operator, and brandishing a gun were the top three methods of assault. Of the 16 assaults, eight were reported to have a bus barrier in use, one occurred outside of the bus, and the remaining seven did not provide details of bus barrier use. Of the reported assaults, three victims were transported by a Metro employee to see the company doctor, one victim required medical transport, and one victim received medical treatment on scene.

Assaults in January were higher than historical averages over the past six years, as shown in Figure A. The methods of assaults that occurred in January are summarized in Figure B.

Figure A: Bus/Rail Operator Assaults Year-to-Year Comparison

Figure B: Methods of Assault

Bus Riding Teams

Transit Security Bus Riding Teams continue to rotate across the top 10 bus lines with reported incidents of operator assaults and lines with newly reported incidents of operator assaults to enforce Metro’s Code of Conduct. In January, seven Transit Security Bus Riding Teams were deployed across the five service areas of Metro’s bus system. Three teams were deployed on the Day Shift and PM Shift, and one team was deployed on the Early Morning Shift (Owl Service). The following table illustrates the Bus Riding Team deployment for January and the number of trips. A reduced number of trips occurred in the last two weeks of January due to the redeployment of resources to support systemwide needs due to the inclement weather and resulting station of emergency in the City of Los Angeles.

Two remaining Transit Security Bus Riding Teams are tentatively scheduled to be deployed by Spring 2024. The MTS teams are augmented with the support of law enforcement. In January, there were 11,707 and 8,781 bus boardings by LAPD officers and LASD deputies, respectively. As a crime reduction measure, staff are coordinating with LAPD Transit to increase law enforcement presence on bus lines that have shown a noticeable increase in crime.

In addition to Code of Conduct enforcement, TSOs provide riders with safety tips, such as being aware of their surroundings while using their mobile phones and informing them of the Transit Watch application to report incidents. Several TSOs are bilingual and can assist patrons in Spanish, Korean, and Thai, among other languages. TSOs also engage with bus operators to obtain information regarding safety issues or areas of concern that the Bus Riding Teams can address.

Staff will continue to review crime statistics and physical assault data to identify potential trends and patterns that will inform deployment strategies to reduce crime on the bus system and help decrease and prevent bus operator assaults. In addition, staff engage with bus operators from all ten bus divisions at monthly RAP sessions to obtain feedback on lines and geographical areas where bus operators have safety concerns.

ACTIVITIES

Narcan Deployment

MTS did not have a Narcan incident during the month of January. This marks the first time Transit Security Officers have not been involved in a Narcan incident since they began administering it on the system in March 2023.

As for Metro Ambassadors, they reported 18 Narcan incidents, with two drug-related fatalities:

•                     (6) Incidents at WLMP Station

•                     (2) Incidents On Train

•                     (2) Incidents at Grand Avenue Arts/Bunker Hill Station - 1 of 2 was a fatal incident

•                     (2) Incidents at Union Station - 1 of 2 was a fatal incident

•                     (1) Incident at Wilshire/Western

•                     (1) Incident at Del Amo Station

•                     (1) Incident at 7th Street/Flower Bus Stop

•                     (1) Incident at Universal City/Studio City

•                     (1) Incident at Little Tokyo/Arts District Station

•                     (1) Incident at 7th Street/Metro Center Station

In total, Ambassadors reported 18 incidents in January, which is the same number of reported incidents in December.

Public Facing Dashboard Update

SSLE and ITS continued working with the external vendor project team throughout January regarding the Public Facing Dashboard project. The primary goal of this project is to design and create a user-friendly and informative public dashboard that pulls specific data from the internal SSLE Crime Dashboard, integrating crime statistics, arrests, calls for service, the Customer Comment Analysis & Tracking System (CCATS), Transit Watch App data, and citations.

The current scope performance period for the Public Facing Dashboard delivery remains on track for FY24 Q4. SSLE will continue to update the Committee on the progress and timeline of delivery.

Emergency Management Update

Emergency Training and Exercises

On January 25, the Emergency Management Department (EMD) conducted its first of 11 planned exercises for the calendar year. The tabletop discussion-based exercise was conducted at the Non-Revenue and Rail Communications, Division 10. The objectives were to increase employee awareness of Metro’s Active Shooter Lockdown Procedures, increase first responder knowledge of Metro’s non-revenue sites, and improve emergency response coordination between Metro and local first responders. Participants included representation from LAPD, Allied and Inter-Con Contract Security, Metro Transit Security, Vehicle Non-Revenue, Rail Communications, Bus Operations Control, Vehicle Operations, System Security and Law Enforcement, and the Emergency Management Department.

On January 28, EMD coordinated LAPD’s K-9 annual certification at Rail Division 21. Five K-9 teams participated in the certification process, which was evaluated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Certification is required annually to ensure LAPD K-9 teams are well-trained to respond to and perform searches on Metro vehicles.  

CUSTOMER COMMENTS

In January, we continue to see riders on social media accounts requesting increased security. This request for increased security personnel has continued a trend from October to the present. SSLE will continue to ensure visible security presence on the system through the security of multi-layer resources. 

The Safety Personnel subtopic generated the highest volume of engagement overall, with Safety and Security having the highest volume of positive engagement. On Reddit, we observed multiple accounts positively commenting about the Ambassadors, emphasizing the distinction between security and Ambassadors, and clarifying the role of Ambassadors in Metro.

Call Center Comments

From December to January, customer comments related to Passenger Conduct increased from 38 to 41. Customer comments related to Rail General Security Concern increased from December to January from 14 to 30. For customer comments related to General Security Concern, there was an increase from December to January from 12 to 13. Examples of some of the most common comments received are riders complaining about individuals smoking on the train, drinking alcoholic beverages, and playing loud music. SSLE will continue highlighting top themes from comments submitted to the Call Center and collaborate with its public safety partners to address them as part of the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment.

Staff reviews all safety and security-related customer comments for trends and patterns to inform possible shifts of uniformed personnel deployments to where ongoing Code of Conduct and crime issues are identified. Moreover, any customer comment referencing criminal activity is forwarded to law enforcement for a follow-up with the customer to investigate the incident and file a crime report.

Transit Watch (TW) App

Transit Watch App reports related to safety and criminal elements for January totaled 2,733, an increase of 20.7% compared to December. The Security Operations Center’s Security Control Specialists (SCS) response time for receiving the report to initial contact with the reporting party has remained unchanged from December to January (0.57 minutes). By comparison, in FY23, the average response time was 4.9 minutes, exceeding the fiscal year’s target of 4 minutes. For FY24, SSLE established a target response time of 2 minutes to ensure a faster process for determining the proper response and dispatch of resources, improving calls for service response times on the system. The reported number for January exceeded the target goal and demonstrates Metro’s commitment to providing excellent customer service and timely security resources to keep patrons and employees safe.

Types of Reported Incidents

Of the incident types reported through the Transit Watch application, graffiti, theft, and non-sexual harassment saw the highest increases in reporting from December to January.

Graffiti incidents reported in January were 1,606 vs. 1,189 in December (a 35.1% increase). Of the 1,606 graffiti incidents captured, Ambassadors reported 71% (1,146) of these occurrences, a 40% increase compared to 817 reported in December. The number of theft reports submitted in January was 22 vs. 11 in December (a 100% increase), while non-sexual harassment reports submitted in January were 23 vs. 19 in December (a 21% increase).

Transit Watch reports highlighted increased property crime and cleanliness issues along the A, B, C, and E lines. These observations resulted in increased patrols at stations with the highest observations. The strategies developed as a result of Transit Watch reporting have led to a 10.2% decline in fights/disturbances, sexual assault-physical, and sexual harassment-non-physical incidents from December to January.

Moreover, in January, SSLE utilized the weekly meetings between members of the Multi-Layered Planned Deployment to discuss observed increases in security incidents, which included theft and harassment. These efforts led to a 69% decrease in sexual assault reports, from 16 reports in December to five reports in January. SSLE continues to explore best practices such as messaging/awareness campaigns, education, and video analytics to address both sexual assault and harassment systemwide.

Stations with the Most Reported Incidents

For graffiti incidents, the top three locations in January were Lincoln/Cypress Station (51), Pico Station (51), and Vermont/Santa Monica Station (42). The top two locations reporting theft incidents were Willowbrook/Rosa Parks Station (2) and Wilshire/Vermont Station (2). The remaining theft reports were reported sporadically across different stations. The top two locations reporting non-sexual harassment incidents were Pico Station (2) and Little Tokyo/Arts District Station (2). The remaining non-sexual harassment reports were reported sporadically across different stations. 

METRO AMBASSADOR PROGRAM UPDATE

A Metro Ambassador’s role is to improve the perception of safety by providing support to riders, connecting riders to resources, and reporting incidents or maintenance needs. Metro Ambassadors were deployed on all rail lines, G Line, J Line, and bus lines 210, 40, 20, and 720.

By the numbers

For the month of January 2024, Metro Ambassadors conducted 61,536 customer interactions and reported the following:

•                     2,557 Cleanliness Issues

•                     1,146 Graffiti Incidents

•                     372 Elevator and Escalator Problems

•                     223 Safety Issues

Equity Platform

EQUITY PLATFORM

Metro continues to take a cross-disciplinary approach to address the system’s various safety needs. Using a multi-layered public safety model, SSLE collaborates with law enforcement partners, contract security, multi-disciplinary outreach teams, and Metro Ambassadors to support vulnerable and unhoused riders, respond to customer concerns, and improve cleanliness and security on the system. Staff recognizes that there are different avenues for the public to share their experience using our system. By monitoring social media posts, customer comments received at the Call Center, and reports from the Transit Watch App, SSLE can better understand public feedback on current security initiatives and how they can be improved for a better, safer rider experience. Recent positive engagement on social media demonstrates the effectiveness of the multi-layered public safety model as Metro and its public safety partners work collectively to address reported issues. The safety of our operators is equally important, and as such, SSLE maintains its presence through the deployments of Metro Transit Security Bus Riding Teams.

Next Steps
NEXT STEPS

SSLE continues to manage our law enforcement partners, private security, and Transit Security Officer performance, monitor crime stats, and consider information from surveys, customer complaints, and physical security assessments, amongst other sources, to analyze safety-related issues, adjust deployment strategies, and formulate new interventions.

Attachments

ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A - Arrests by Race & Ethnicity January 2024

Attachment B - Total Crime Summary January 2024

Attachment C - Systemwide Law Enforcement Overview January 2024

Attachment D - MTA Supporting Data January 2024

Attachment E - Bus & Rail Operator Assaults January 2024

Attachment F - Sexual Harassment Crimes January 2024

Prepared by

Prepared by: Robert Gummer, Senior Executive Officer, System Security & Law

Enforcement, (213) 922-4513

Vanessa Smith, Executive Officer, Customer Experience, (213) 922-7009

Imelda Hernandez, Senior Manager, Transportation Planning, (213) 922-4848

Reviewed By

Reviewed by: Gina Osborn, Chief Safety Officer, Chief Safety Office, (213) 922-3055

Jennifer Vides, Chief Customer Experience Officer, Customer Experience Office, (213) 940-4060