August 21, 2024

Los Angeles CA – Today, Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Janice Hahn released the following statement in response to recent attacks on Metro riders:

“While I appreciate that law enforcement has been able to respond quickly to these recent incidents, not enough is being done to prevent these attacks from ever happening in the first place. My question is: where were uniformed law enforcement officers assigned to Metro and transit security officers while these attacks were happening? And what will Metro do differently now to prevent violent crimes in the future, like installing technology to detect and keep weapons out of our system?

These recent tragic incidents highlight just how much still needs to be done, even as Metro has surged its law enforcement and continues to spend hundreds of millions a year on safety. The public deserves transparency. Metro needs to provide a full accounting for how its multi-layered security are dispatched and a plan to improve these efforts to prevent future attacks. Our riders need to be and feel safe on our buses, trains, and stations no matter the time of day. Anything less is not good enough.”