By Jorge Casuso

August 6, 2024 -- LA Metro's governing board last month approved a number of high-tech public safety initiatives that are expected to curb crime aboard trains, at stations and in destination cities, like Santa Monica, according to former police chief James T. Butts Jr.

The $65 million worth of initiatives -- which will be tested in a suite of pilot programs at different stations in the LA area over the next 30 to 45 days -- will make it much harder for passengers to illegally board trains without paying a fare, said Butts, who sits on the 14-member Board.

The safety measures include installing taller fare gates, upgrading security cameras and testing a detection system that uses high-frequency radio waves that can easily detect weapons, Metro officials said.

The measures, approved by the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board on July 25, also include a TAP-to-Exit pilot program -- which will be tested at Santa Monica's Downtown station -- that requires passengers to tap their fare card to exit the station.

Butts, who is the Mayor of Inglewood, said the programs provide a "holistic approach" to tackling a growing crime problem on the train system and the cities it serves.

"There has to be a sense of order and safety," said Butts, who served as SMPD Chief from 1991 to 2006. "People who avoid fares are disproportionately involved in crimes on the system."

"Improving barriers," Butts said, "is the most effective way to have an immediate impact on public safety."

Most of the violent crimes on the Metro system -- including highly publicized fatal shootings and stabbings -- are committed by individuals who do not pay a fare and are using the system illegally, according to a report last month by KTLA.

Between May 2023 and April 2024, those riders were responsible for 93 percent of the 153 violent crimes committed on the system, according to LA County Sheriff's Department statistics cited by the station.

A TAP-to-Exit program at the North Hollywood Metro station -- like the one slated for the end-of-the-line station in Downtown Santa Monica -- reduced crime at the station and on the B line by 40 percent, according to the KTLA report.

A survey conducted by Metro in late March found that some 555 homeless individuals, many of whom use the trains as mobile shelters, exit at "end-of-line" stations on any given night when trains go out of service.

A point-in-time survey found that of those, 59 exited at the Expo line station in Santa Monica.

"If you crack down on homeless fare dodgers," said Butts, "they're not going to be in Santa Monica."

The former Police Chief, who is credited for cracking down on a surging homeless problem in the mid 1990s, pushed for a Metro pilot program that will use advance technology to detect weapons at the fare gates.

The system, which uses high-frequency radio waves to detect the shape of concealed objects, is used at airports, sports arenas and concert venues, Butts said.

Metro officials expect the system, along with a "dual lane system" that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to detect weapons, will be in place at Downtown L.A.’s Union Station in September, according to the Daily News.

A second testing site will be installed in November at the LAX Metro Transit Center station that has not yet been completed.

The system will help deter violent crime, Butts said. “These systems say to people, ‘Don’t bring weapons on Metro,’" Butts told the Daily News. "This is a big priority.”

The use of the technology has prompted push-back from civil rights and privacy advocates, including the ACLU of Southern California, which has opposed body scanners and tap-to-exit programs.

In its report covering last month's Metro Board meeting, the Los Angeles Public Press noted that members of the Bus Riders Union and other transit advocates opposed the measures funded by the Board.

They worried the initiatives "could have the unintended effect of criminalizing riders, and detracting from the agency’s stated interest in expanding access to fare-free trips," according to LA Public Press.

"At best these technologies will gum up the system,” said Tala Oszkay with Alliance for Community Transit-LA (ACT-LA). “At worst they’ll criminalize riders.”

The Board's action comes after LA Metro in May beefed up physical patrols, deploying them on board trains and bus lines that are experiencing high crime rates.