After concerns about safety on San Diego public transit, the Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) announced Wednesday that it was increasing security at transit centers and on trolleys and buses.
The moves come after a recent passenger satisfaction survey.
“One of the biggest areas of improvement that riders want to see is more security,” Stephen Whitburn, the MTS board chair who also represents San Diego City Council District 3, said at a news conference Wednesday.
Whitburn, alongside other local leaders including Tim Curran, the director of transit security and passenger safety for the MTS, announced a 60% increase in the number of security officers in 2024.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Response time is expected to increase as a result, since double the number of officers will be patrolling buses and there will be twice as many plain-clothes officers. The MTS will also add to the number of “train” teams on trolleys, meaning pairs of officers who ride trolley lines throughout the day.
“People see security onboard and they feel better,” Curran said. “They’re not concerned about their ride; they’re just worried about getting to their destination. They’re not worried about anybody giving them a hard time or trouble.”
Local
MTS also announced plans to improve lighting at transit stations and to consolidate help lines to one phone number — 619-595-4960, phone or text — for security concerns, day or night.
In November, NBC 7 Investigates looked through more than five years of crime report data related to MTS buses and trolleys. Crimes, including homicide, assaults, robberies, sex offense and vandalism, were trending in the wrong direction. Total crimes jumped in 2021 and nearly doubled in 2022.
MTS hopes its security officers will make a positive impact in 2024.
“They have certain authorities, not that of a full peace officer, but they can issue citations and they have the authority to arrest people for incidents that occur in their presence,” Curran said, adding that the officers are unarmed but that some contracted security guards are.
For more information on how to report an incident to MTS, click here.
