Phoenix light rail: Private rail security urged
Courtesy of Emily Gersema – Sept. 6, 2011
The Arizona Republic
[Editors Note: Any large city has security concerns. LightRailConnect.com supports the move to private security.]
Mesa and Tempe have a private-security company to monitor Metro light-rail passengers in their areas, but Phoenix has continued to rely on its police force to check on passengers and be on watch for crime at platforms and in the trains.
That appears about to change.
The Phoenix Citizens Transit Commission last week unanimously approved a proposal for the Police Department to switch to a private-security company to monitor the passengers for the Phoenix stretch of the 19-mile light-rail system. The measure now goes to the Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability Subcommittee and the City Council, which are expected to approve it later this month.
Cmdr. Jeff Alexander of the Phoenix Public Transit Police Bureau told the commission that Metro light rail has a goal that police or security officers inspect around 20 percent of all fares to be sure light-rail passengers are paying and validating their passes.
“We have struggled with that,” Alexander said. “We have never been able to attain that goal without having outside resources or using more officers or putting more officers on the train.”
Mesa and Tempe rely on G4S, the company formerly known as Wackenhut, to monitor passengers and check fares.
G4S security officers are easily recognized by their white shirts with purple sleeve badges and dark pants, and they carry handheld devices that, with a quick swipe, can check a rider’s ticket and determine whether it’s valid. This helps Metro light rail gauge how many riders are paying or understand the fare system and how to validate their cards before boarding.
The sight of these security officers is a deterrent for freeloaders and troublemakers. G4S security officers carry handcuffs and mace for unruly passengers who pose a threat to others, Alexander said. Passengers and the security officers can call police for dire situations.
With G4S in the East Valley, security officers for the fiscal year that ended June 30 were able to inspect 433,367 fares, about 15.5 percent of the 2.8 million riders in that area. But Phoenix significantly lagged in inspections, checking fewer than 7 percent of the 4.66 million riders in the city’s limits.
Switching to G4S doesn’t mean riders won’t see uniformed police, Alexander told the 15-member commission. It just means bureau officers and police assistants – civilian police workers who can hand out citations – will have a reduced presence on the train. They’ll still be able to respond to crime calls, issue citations or investigate complaints along the transit system.
The Public Transit Police Bureau in Phoenix, founded in 2007, handles law-enforcement issues on the buses, too. “We allocate our number of officers based on what’s going on in the transit system,” Alexander said.
Given its recent budget woes, Phoenix has been looking at ways to use staff members, including officers, more efficiently and reduce costs.
The switch to G4S for passenger monitoring won’t cost the city any extra money. It won’t save Phoenix any money, either, but it will improve oversight of passengers.
Alexander said that with the change, the bureau would shift $770,000 to Metro light rail to pay for the private-security service. That money would otherwise have paid for filling several vacancies at the bureau: two sergeants, four police assistants and two municipal security guards.
Alexander said the bureau now has 17 police officers and 32 police assistants.