Opinion: Metro should delay making a final decision on policing trains and busses

To the editor: The Times failed to illustrate what is at stake Thursday when the Metro Board of Directors votes on the agency’s safety plan. (“How to make riders feel safer on L.A.’s public transit system,” editorial, Nov. 28)

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department fully embraced the 2014 audit and made leadership and deployment changes. The results: a nearly 50% reduction in crime at Los Angeles Union Station and a Metro system-wide crime reduction of 8%.

If passengers feel unsafe, it is for a variety of reasons, including Metro’s focus on saving money versus spending what it would take to achieve a true public safety and community policing model.

Metro’s plan to double the number of private security guards does little to address the fact that security officers do not have peace officer powers. They still must call on law enforcement to make an arrest. The $527-million Metro plan does not address police visibility.

Metro’s board should postpone Thursday’s vote.

Jim McDonnell, Los Angeles

The writer is sheriff of Los Angeles County.

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