Metro to hold public meeting about new police force following deadly bus hijacking
LOS ANGELES - Following growing calls for improved safety measures on or near Metro buses and trains, the Los Angeles Metro Board was set to host a community meeting to discuss its new police force.
SUGGESTED: Metro testing weapons-detection system at Union Station
Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee will hold a community listening session at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Sept. 26, in the Fred Harvey room at Union Station. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the implementation of the agency’s independent police department approved by the Metro board in June.
Under the plan, the new department, called the Transit Community Public Safety Department, would be gradually implemented over a five-year span and assigned a Chief of Police.
The public meeting follows the latest deadly incident on Wednesday morning when an armed man hijacked a Metro bus in South LA. The gunman led police on an hour-long slow pursuit to downtown. A passenger on the bus was shot dead. The bus operator and other passengers escaped unharmed.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Innocent passenger killed in downtown LA after gunman hijacks MTA bus
The Metro Board is also considering expanding new weapons-detecting technology being tested at Union Station.
"If you can't get into a Dodger game or a concert with a weapon, you shouldn't be able to board a bus or train with a weapon," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs the Metro Board of Directors.
The three systems being tested at Union Station include:
- Video analytics, which looks for brandishing of weapons on the system;
- Millimeter wave, which looks at potential weapons that could be hidden on people;
- Dual-lane system, which detects items that resemble a weapon.
The cutting-edge technology is currently part of a pilot program they hope to eventually expand.
Metro officials say by the end of this year they also plan to complete the installation of protective barriers for drivers on all of its buses.
FOX 11's Alexi Chidbachian contributed to this report.