Los Angeles, like other major cities, has seen a surge in crime committed on buses, trains and stations’ transit hubs, according to statistics compiled by different publications, and now transit officials are working to find a solution.
Crimes reported to police agencies covering the Los Angeles MTA and its properties increased by 54.7% between 2020 and 2023. Between 2022 and 2023, violent crimes on MTA properties rose 10.9%, according to monthly crime data compiled by ABC News.
“We’ve had drivers where machetes have been pulled. Urine has been thrown on them. Feces, you name it, whatever they can get their hands on,” said Christine Ivey, a Los Angeles bus operator for 30 years.
Ivey currently works for the Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines and said the same concerns of assaults on drivers in the southern California have been ongoing for years.
As the city has struggled to find solutions and deal with staffing issues concerning security officials who handle transit, riders and operators have been pleading for help.
The LA MTA system has multi-agency transit law enforcement contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA Sheriff’s Department and the Long Beach Police Department. Statistics collected from all three agencies and analyzed by ABC News show there were at least 4,958 serious crimes – including murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and vehicle theft — between 2020 and 2023.
City and transit officials said they have been working to combat crime while also addressing concerns about homelessness in the mass transit hubs, mental health issues and repeat violent offenders.
LA Metro said in a statement that it has instituted a “multi-layered safety plan, which includes a combination of unarmed care-based personnel, transit security officers and law enforcement, to best serve a diverse customer base with differing views on safety.”
Write a Reply or Comment
You should Sign In or Sign Up account to post comment.