Vote on Who Will Police Light Rail Line Postponed

Following a protest from their own transit police, the Southern California Rapid Transit District Board of Directors on Thursday put off for two weeks any decision on whether to hire Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies to protect the Long Beach-Los Angeles Light Rail Line.

The board had voted 9 to 2 a month ago to have its own transit police force handle security on the 22-mile trolley line that will begin running between downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach in July. Called the Blue Line, these trolleys will be the first to operate in Los Angeles in 30 years.

The directors met Thursday to reconsider this vote after strong political pressure from the mayor’s office, the county Board of Supervisors and others who favor use of the sheriff’s deputies.

The board, after three hours of argument and protests from 50 RTD police officers, decided to put the vote off until its next meeting, March 22.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission has built the $871-million line and will turn rail operations over to the RTD this summer. Saying they fear the RTD police could not handle security, the commission staff has tried to force the RTD to hire the sheriff.

The Blue Line, which will link downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach, runs through high-crime areas in South-Central Los Angeles that are also plagued by gangs. Rail experts from both agencies agree that the line’s success depends upon riders feeling safe enough to board the trains.

After the RTD board voted Feb. 8 to give the security job to RTD police, political pressure was applied by both Mayor Tom Bradley’s office and the supervisors to reverse the decision, several RTD board members said Thursday. The mayor and individual supervisors appoint seven of the 11 members of the RTD board of directors.

RTD board members Nick Patsaouras and Larry Gonzales--working behind the scenes with the Transportation Commission staff, representatives from the mayor’s office and the supervisors’ staff--fashioned a proposed two-year contract that would give Blue Line security to the sheriff’s office. At the end of that period, the RTD could cancel the contract.

The $9.9-million-a-year contract called for deployment of a special force of 126 deputies, investigators and supervisors to police the line, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Jerry Schmiedeke. Cost of the contract would be paid by the Transportation Commission.

Until recently, the RTD police force has been understaffed and torn by morale problems, commission executive director Neal Peterson has said. He said an opinion poll paid for by the commission revealed potential train riders have more confidence in the sheriff’s office.

However, Sharon Papa, the new RTD police chief, has assured the board that her department can handle security on the Blue Line and at less cost. She has been hiring and training new officers for the job. The cost, she said, would be about $6 million, a savings of about $4 million for comparable service.

At noon Thursday, before the RTD board meeting, about 50 RTD officers in uniform held a press conference to protest the proposed contract with the sheriff’s office.

And half a dozen officers testified during the stormy session, contending that their small department was being squeezed out in a power grab by the sheriff’s office.