Metro Plans to Beef Up Security on Trains, Buses

After the shooting of a man on the Green Line this week as well as other recent incidents on its trains and stations, Metro announced Thursday that they plan to immediately beef up security, according to a news release from Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

The increased security includes adding more patrols onboard buses, trains and within Metrorail stations, WMATA said.

Metro Transit Police will begin implementing the following measures immediately:

• Reassign 17 officers to Patrol Operations
  
• Relieve existing Patrol Officers from “revenue protection duties”
  
• Implement “power hour” deployments, surging the number of officers on duty at selected times by up to 100 percent
  
• Reassign officers on qualifying “limited duty” status to key stations to provide additional “eyes and ears”

“Every Metro rider deserves to be able to travel freely without fear, and we will take all appropriate steps to reassure riders and respond to crime trends,” Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik said Thursday, in the news release. “At the General Manager’s direction, we will take immediate steps to increase patrols using our existing resources.”

The Metro Transit Police Department said in its new release announcing the beefed up security that it “encourages any rider who notices anything of concern to bring it to the attention of police.”

Metro Police says to report emergencies, call 911 or MTPD directly at 202-962-2121. MTPD note that they also has a “text tip” option for reporting non-emergency situations. Riders can send a text message to 696873 (MyMTPD) to reach a Transit Police dispatcher, according to WMATA.

Metro will soon begin a major installation of cable in 100 miles of tunnel to improve radio, wireless technology coverage with estimated costs at $120 million, WMATA also announced this week.

PHOTO of Metro from Patch archive