Transit officials this week declared an emergency to speed up the construction of enclosed safe restrictions for drivers in Willowbrook following the stabbery of a bus driver this month in the midst of a string of increasingly violent assaults against public transport operators.
In a statement to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s panel this week, top officials wrote to the agency to ask it to review the new barriers.” These incidents have occurred without no prompting or warning and had created an environment of increased risk and stress as assailants are resorting to the use of dangerous weapons like guns and knives,” they wrote. ” Given this issue condition, it is important that Metro retrofit all trucks with fully enclosed impediments”.
The decision comes as Metro’s program is undergoing renewed security concern. On Monday, a believe, who had recently attacked a Metro rider, was arrested on suspicion of , slitting the throat , of a 66- yr- old Dominican immigrant, killing the grandmother as she was coming home from her night shift on a Metro train. The crime is the , following on the system , this season.
Metro can pass routine procurement procedures because of the “emergency problem” in order to purchase tempered glass after supply chain disruptions had prevented the purchase of the product. To construct enclosed obstacles that will separate vehicles from their people, the cup and kits will be used. The Metro’s administrative committee is expected to vote on the plan Thursday.
John Ellis, a representative for six union visitors representing the MTA’s 5, 000 bus and rail users, said,” Offense is spiraling upwards and we have to do something.” He claimed that in recent months, the coalition has been receiving enquiries from both users and users. ” The people that are going to work, those that do n’t have transportation, they are calling me just concerned for their safety”.
Attack on transport employees have  , tripled over the last 15 years, according to study from the Urban Institute, and other organizations are even looking at comparable privileges. The table had approve the emergency authorization, making Metro the first company in the country to put entirely enclosed barriers on its fleet. Restrictions may be placed first for roads with more documented attack, but the whole fleet of more than 2, 000 may be modified by the end of the year.
Ellis, who has worked with the Metro key professional for more than a year on this and gave his acceptance for the last design, said,” This will help make individuals more safe.
Metro has installed emergency knobs on buses, train drivers have been trained in de-escalation techniques, and have added on-bus cameras as a result of the increase in attacks over the past few years. Less safe obstacles were installed on cars two years ago, but attackers frequently crossed them. The perpetrator was able to bite the driver and kill him in the chest during the most recent stabbing, which occurred two weeks ago. According to Ellis, the intruder seized the challenge after watching the video.
One L.A. van driver was shot and killed last month while another was also spit on by an airsoft gun. Across the country, union leaders say , travel agencies are n’t doing enough,  , and have called for more armed security on cars and felony- level fees for those arrested.
” It’s sad because the patrons have to ride it”, Ellis said. ” Our riding public, they are vulnerable. You ca n’t put an enclosure inside each seat and put them in a box.
Ellis wants Metro to have its own in-house, specialized police force, something that is being considered by the organization.
” It would create better safety on this system, when you have dedicated police taking care of nothing but transit”, he said.
___
© 2024 Los Angeles Times
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
