Hahn Wants Law Enforcement Agencies that Contract with Metro to Enforce Employee Vaccination Mandates

Los Angeles, CA — Today, the Los Angeles Metro Board of Directors Operations, Safety, and Customer Experience Committee unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Janice Hahn which require law enforcement agencies that contract with Metro to enforce a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for their employees. The motion was adopted as an amendment to an item which would extend Metro’s contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Long Beach Police Department and will be voted on by the full Metro Board on December 2, 2021.

“This is about safety and consistency,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “We are not requiring Metro riders to be vaccinated so we need to make sure the people who we have interact with them are vaccinated to keep everyone safe. Metro is already requiring all of its bus drivers and train operators to get vaccinated, so it makes sense that we would require our law enforcement agencies to do the same.”

If the full Metro Board of Directors approves the item on December 2nd, law enforcement agencies will need to enforce a vaccination mandate for their employees by July 2022 or lose their contract with Metro. This would include the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

LA Metro currently contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Long Beach Police Department, and is undertaking an ambitious effort to reimagine public safety on its buses, trains, and at its stations. Supervisor Hahn has been a proponent of this work including an effort to bring in trained mental health professionals from the LA County Department of Mental Health.