Title
Light Rail Safety Update
Description
This report provides the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee an update on Light Rail safety and security.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY.
Report
Summary
The City of Phoenix and Valley Metro are committed to delivering safe, reliable, high-quality transit experiences for customers. The priority is keeping customers safe by maintaining continuous presence of security across the 28-mile light rail system and collaborating with city partners, contractors, and community resources.
To address community concerns regarding the level of safety on light rail vehicles and facilities under the management of Valley Metro, the Phoenix Police Department Transit Unit and Allied Universal Security created an Enhanced Security Plan to support the Valley Metro staff responsible for ensuring the safety of the light rail system. During each iteration of the Enhanced Light Rail Security Operations Plan, squad-size elements of the Transit Unit comprised of one sergeant, four to six detectives, and five to six police assistants were placed on a selected light rail platforms to be immediately available to identify individuals who were determined to be trespassing or engaging in theft of services by the Valley Metro fare inspectors who were on the platform and assigned to inspect each arriving light rail vehicle to ensure compliance.
While conducting the records checks required to identify each violator, those with outstanding warrants or previous trespass warnings were also identified and arrested by the Transit Unit detectives. Due to the volume of contacts being made which resulted in an arrest, the Central Booking Detail provided additional manpower of two to four detention officers to transport arrestees to a holding facility which increased the overall capacity and efficiency of the Transit personnel. The initial three phases of the plan ran from Sept. 4, 2023 to Sept. 28, 2023 with the following results:
- Total Arrests: 91
- Felony Warrants: 18
- Misdemeanor Warrants: 43
- On-View Arrests: 30
The ongoing maintenance phase of the Enhanced Light Rail Security Operations Plan consists of deployment of Transit personnel on light rail platforms twice a week. The new enforcement data through Oct. 16, 2023, includes the following:
- Total Arrests: 122*
- Warrants: 91
- Trespassing Arrests: 24
- Drug-Related Arrests: 19
*Some arrestees were charged with more than one category above.
Delineation of Police and Allied Security Duties
During the maintenance phase of the Plan, below are the defined duties for the Transit Unit and Allied Security:
Allied Security / Valley Metro Staff
- Security management will communicate with Transit Unit supervisors to plan and select locations for the Enhanced Security Plan deployment to occur.
- Security staff should be placed on light rail vehicles and conduct inspections to ensure compliance and will then alert Transit Unit personnel when a subject in need of identification arrives at the light rail platform.
- Security should be placed on the affected light rail platform to conduct compliance inspections in the paid fare zone and supplement security staff conducting inspections on arriving light rail vehicles.
- When a violator has valid identification, the security staff will issue a citation to the violator for each violation committed.
- When a violator does not possess valid identification or is recognized as a person who is trespassing, security staff will request Transit Unit personnel to facilitate the identification of the violator.
- Once a violator is identified, the security staff will issue the civil citation to the violator.
- Security staff will be responsible for tracking the number of fare inspections conducted, trespass warnings given, and citations issued.
Transit Unit Personnel
- Transit Supervisors will deploy a team comprised of detectives and police assistants to the agreed upon light rail platform after considerations have been made including staffing, volume of traffic, criminal activity, and community complaints.
- Will respond to requests from Valley Metro Security staff to identify violators who do not possess valid identification to facilitate the issuance of a citation by the security staff.
- Will conduct investigations of observed criminal activity, such as theft or trespassing, while assigned to the Enhanced Light Rail Security Plan.
- Will arrest individuals who are contacted and for whom there is a warrant or probable cause to arrest.
- Will not conduct fare inspection.
- Transit Supervisors will notify Valley Metro Security supervisors when the police have reached workload capacity and the operation must be ended.
Additional Valley Metro Information Requests
During the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee meeting on Sept. 6, 2023, subcommittee members requested additional information and data from Valley Metro related to their security efforts. This additional information is included on the attached memorandum (Attachment A). The memorandum also includes the 2023 Rider Security Survey Results Overview as requested by the subcommittee.
Additional information and updates will be presented to the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee in December.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays, Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Police and Public Transit departments.