L.A. Metro Contemplates Swapping Police Presence for Unarmed 'Transit Ambassadors'

Nick GilbertsonNovember 18, 2021

The Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors will consider the newly formed Public Safety Advisory Committee’s recommendation to replace police officers in the city’s transit system with unarmed “Transit Ambassadors.” At the same time, Los Angeles law enforcement officials slammed the potential move.

The Public Safety Advisory Committee, which was formed in 2020, voted on November 3 “to recommend abolishing all three policing contracts, shifting the burden of policing to local agencies and using the $75 million to fund undefined alternatives such as non-profits and yet-to-be developed Metro Ambassadors,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) stated in a press release.

“Transit Ambassadors” would reportedly be unarmed, according to Fox L.A.

The vote will be taken under consideration by the Metro Board of Directors at its November 18 “Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience” committee meeting, per Legistar. The recommendation will be entertained by the full Metro Transit Authority Board of Directors on December 2, according to the sheriff’s office.

The LA Metro board will soon consider recommendations to eventually replace armed law enforcement officers on the transit system with unarmed, uniformed ‘transit ambassadors.’ https://t.co/RLILvxZQom

— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) November 18, 2021

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva slammed the recommendation at a press conference Wednesday.

“This is the definition of a ‘woke’ advisory group, and of course what’s the recommendation? Let’s get rid of all cops. Literally,” he said, according to Fox LA. “There’s an absolute absence of people that represent the average commuter, the average worker.”

Villanueva also stated such a move would perpetuate disorderliness and dysfunction:

“Any crime that occurs on any bus, any light rail, any subway – the victim would have to figure out who to call from whatever the local agency is, whoever picks up 911 depending on their signal, and figure out who’s jurisdiction it is,” Villanueva said per Fox L.A. “They’re flipping the pyramid upside down and now the ‘transit ambassadors’ who are not law enforcement would be the main source of providing the illusion of security.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Chief Gene Harris of the San Gabriel Police Department and Los Angeles County Police Chief’s Association slammed the Public Safety Advisory Board’s recommendation, per Fox LA:

You’re going to take away the entity that is highest-trained, best and specifically trained for transit service response, trained for homeless response and outreach, trained for mental health and outreach and response, and you’re going to eliminate that, and then you’re going to hope that…the 45 agencies along the transit and bus lines can step in and take care of that on a moving train, a moving bus, or a moving target as it were, then we are sadly mistaken.

The Metro released a statement on the heels of the sheriff’s department’s criticism, per Fox L.A.

“L.A. Metro’s number one priority is the safety of our riders and our employees, and we will make sure that any changes to our public safety systems are consistent with the values of Metro and the Metro Board,” the statement said.

“We have recommended that our Board approve funding for the remaining six months of our law enforcement contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and Long Beach Police Department as well as authorize an extension of up to one-year,” the statement continued. “We believe this will give Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee sufficient time to finalize its long-term recommendations.”

In its press release, the LASD highlighted the number of crimes that have occurred on the train in recent years.

“In the past three years, there have been 6 murders, 26 rapes, and 1,450 robberies or assaults on the Metro. The statistics show the need to increase the number of law enforcement officers, not abolish them,” the release reads.