Picture This!
What's
new this week in transportation
Transit police increase
visibility to improve protection
 The
Metro Transit Police and Seattle Police (above) work together in downtown
Seattle to patrol bus stops, which includes checking with bus drivers to
make sure all is well. Marked transit police vehicles (right) often escort
Metro buses on their routes for crime prevention and security.
If you are a regular bus
rider, you may be noticing more and more police officers in King County
Sheriff and Seattle uniforms on your coach, in the downtown tunnel and
following your bus in a marked police car.
It's all part of a strategy
to improve safety for bus riders and drivers by increasing transit officer
visibility throughout King County.
"One of our objectives
is to reduce crime -- and the fear of crime -- by making our uniformed
officers highly visible," said Capt. Deborah Huntsinger, commander of
the Metro Transit Police.
"We want to visually demonstrate our commitment to care for our
riders and drivers."
The Metro
Transit system is the size of a big city on wheels. Buses and vans
travel to almost every corner of King County's 2,200 square miles, serving
a population of 1.7 million people. More than 240 Metro routes operate
300,000 bus trips a day, and during peak commute times about 1,200 buses
are on the road.
This service adds up to a lot
of responsibility for transit security. The Metro Transit Police
coordinates it all, but the protection duties are shared by all police
jurisdictions wherever Metro vehicles travel.
Metro Transit Police is a
unit of the King County
Sheriff's Office. Twenty-seven full-time sergeants, deputies and
detectives from the Sheriff's Office oversee security operations. That
includes a workforce that draws on 350 part-time, off-duty Seattle Police
Department officers. Together, they patrol the Metro Transit system and
its facilities by bus, bike and car to enforce the King
County Code of Conduct, along with local and state laws.
Some of the busiest times for
transit officers are on warm summer evenings, when large numbers of people
are using Metro buses to travel to ball
games, concerts, festivals, parades, fireworks and all sorts of summertime
fun. The combination of crowds, warm weather and alcohol consumption
often create a higher level of misconduct that officers must deal with
quickly before it gets out of hand.
Enforcement is handled in two
ways. Plainclothes detectives ride buses undercover seven days a week.
But, much of the enforcement is carried out by uniformed officers. Working
in highly visible units, these officers patrol bus stops, shelters and
park-and-ride lots.
They also offer coach escorts
as a deterrent to misbehavior on both buses and surrounding streets. The
coach escorts give officers an opportunity to catch problems early. If
someone does start a problem on a bus, then officers are close by to
minimize the length of time the riders and drivers have to deal with it.
Transit officers assigned to
downtown Seattle are also responsible to conduct coach checks at fixed
locations. The officers select bus zones, such as at Third Avenue and Pine
Street, and then contact each driver who stops at that spot to make sure
all is well.
The Metro Transit Police are
also forging partnerships with community groups, government agencies and
other transit organizations. Through these partnerships, they share
information, ideas and solutions aimed at making our buses, streets and
communities safer.
If you have ideas or concerns
about transit security, contact officers by e-mail through Metro
Transit Customer Service, or call Metro Transit Customer Service at
(206) 553-3060.
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