Metro Transit Police deputies make an arrest for suspected drug activity at a bus stop in Seattle.
Full-time deputies join Metro Transit Police force
A reallocation of funds in the last budget cycle allowed Metro Transit Police, a division of the King County Sheriff’s Office, to add 12 full-time deputies to its force this year. Filling hours that were previously filled by off-duty Seattle Police officers, the new deputies will help provide a consistent response to transit-related incidents, according to Metro Transit Police Chief Carol Cummings. “We can provide them with transit-specific training, and this is their full-time job, so they are focused on transit issues,” Cummings said.
The law officers who police Metro buses, shelters, and stops work in a unique environment with its own challenges and opportunities. A bus is, in effect, a small, rolling community that may pass through several different local jurisdictions. While police from those jurisdictions will respond to incidents that involve Metro buses and properties in their areas, they must respond to their highest-priority situations first.
“If you have a significant stabbing or shooting on the bus, they’ll be there,” Cummings said. But local police may not be able to respond in a timely manner to less urgent situations that are still important to Metro’s operators and riders. Metro Transit Police deputies can specifically target problems that involve Metro buses, shelters, and other properties, and they also work in partnership with other jurisdictions and supply specialized knowledge and information, such as photographs of suspects taken by security cameras on buses.
The new deputies are joining the second shift, which runs roughly from 2 p.m. until midnight, when most incident reports are generated, said Metro Transit Police Operations Captain Dave Jutilla. The deputies bring Metro’s full-time police force to a total of 47, and Metro will also continue to employ off-duty Seattle Police officers to supplement its full-time force.
Cummings said she wants operators to let transit police know when incidents occur on the bus or in other transit properties. Security incident reports are used not only to provide information leading to the arrests of suspects, but also to document patterns, she said.
“As with any police department, we do prioritize calls. If transit deputies are involved in a serious incident, they may not be able to immediately respond to a less urgent situation,” Cummings said. Still, the transit police understand that “quality-of-life crimes” are important to Metro’s operators and riders. “We encourage operators to report them and will endeavor to handle them in as timely a manner as possible.”
Last update: March 05, 2007
Archived issue: November/December 2006
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