The Bay Area Council is seeking assistance from the governor because they are fed up with the rising rate of criminal activity on BART trains and at stops.
Although the California Highway Patrol is not an option, the Chief Operating Officer of the Bay Area Council, John Grubb, stated that they are seeking to collaborate with Governor Gavin Newsom on other safety methods, including utilizing the services of other law enforcement organizations.
“Coordinate with other law enforcement, the various counties that BART operates in, such as Contra Costa, Alameda County, San Francisco, and San Mateo, or either the city police or the sheriff’s department,” Grubb said.
In addition to a 12% decrease in overall crime from the previous year, BART reported that it had added 39 officers so far this year.
According to Debora Allen, the Director of the BART Board, “the most important thing that a person thinks about when they are deciding whether or not to use public transportation is the safety of the general public.”
Allen is in agreement that further action is required. She is of the opinion that it would be beneficial to have police officers from other agencies assist in patrolling the fifty stations that make up BART.
According to her, “so that we could at least get to a point where we have one officer on duty at each station in the system at all times.
