MetroLink spends $35 million to win public’s trust back. Here’s what you can expect.
A new agreement between the agency that runs MetroLink and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department is part of a plan to provide extra security to area transit.
These and other new investments in security are part of a larger effort to win the public’s trust when it comes to MetroLink safety, according to Taulby Roach, Bi-State Development’s president and chief executive officer.
Roughly $35 million in contracts were approved by the Bi-State Development Board of Commissioners recently, continuing what Roach called a concerted effort to “completely renovate” transit safety. Those investments, he says, will include additional law enforcement and security as well as lighting, cameras and access control.
“It was another success in a long line of successes with completely renovating security,” he said.
Roach said MetroLink riders will see an increased police presence on shuttles in the coming months, a more mobile and responsive security team and other improvements.
The investments include agreements and contracts with St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department and the St. Louis City Police Department aimed at increasing security presence on MetroLink.
The agreement between the departments allows Bi-State to hire off-duty “secondary officers” to patrol MetroLink when needed. Roach said that can be determined through working with law enforcement advisers.
“These are off-duty officers that we can deploy in specific situations to add extra security where we feel is necessary,” Roach said.
Bi-State also approved contracts with the two departments that will see on-duty officers patrolling MetroLink.
A $4.87 million contract with St. Louis Police will allow 44 officers and 13 police vehicles to patrol MetroLink. A similar $1.67 million contract renewal with St. Clair County calls for ongoing patrols by 15 sheriff deputies on the MetroLink. Both contracts last through June with options to extend.
A $28.5 million contract with a new security firm, G4S Security Solutions, will replace the current firm Securitas starting Feb. 1. Roach said that’s when the security changes will become most apparent.
He said the new firm is part of an effort to restructure security by providing a staff that is less “static” and more mobile.
“It has been radically changed to reflect the needs of the new security plan,” he said. “(It will be) a more mobile force that is more customer-oriented with the overall goal being presence on the system.”
Roach said the biggest changes riders will notice will come in February when G4S Security Solution’s contract begins.
“We have been making changes on the ground and this is a result of that new plan and us trying to be careful to listen to our customers and the public and deliver the service they’re asking for,” Roach said. “In order to regain riders, I need to regain the trust of the public so that they feel our system is safe and secure.”
In 2018, a Belleville News-Democrat investigation found there was less than one violent crime — such as homicide or robbery — on MetroLink for every 100,000 boardings in 2016, and 1.4 violent crimes per 100,000 boardings in 2017.
Roach said that since the effort to bolster security started several months ago, the system has seen decreased reports of crime.
“We’ve seen discernible improvements — and we’ve seen that on both the Missouri and Illinois side — but we are not done,” he said. “We need to keep working and be responsive.”
Roach said the next improvements will include more security cameras, lighting and, most importantly, enforcing legal access to transit.
``We’re trying to move towards a central point of access at every single station so we can be engaged in more active fare checking where theoretically, virtually every single customer is fare checked when they enter our system, Roach said”
Most recently, several MetroLink stops in St. Clair County were outfitted with upgraded LED lights hoped to improve security and save money.
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 5:00 AM.