Long Beach : Police Officers Will Begin Patrolling City Bus Lines
Four Long Beach police officers will begin patrolling the city’s transit routes next month.
The City Council last week approved a one-year agreement with Long Beach Transit for two patrol cars and the officers. They are expected to work primarily in their cruisers but may also ride the buses at times, said Guy Heston, assistant general manager for Long Beach Transit.
“It’s not like we have a huge problem we’re trying to solve,” Heston said. “Overall, we have a very safe system. We have 23 million boardings a year. Out of 23 million boardings, the number of incidents is very low.”
But he added: “This was an opportunity to make things better.”
Five drivers were assaulted between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 1993, but none of them were seriously hurt, officials said. The city-owned bus company also reported eight instances of passengers carrying guns or knives onto a bus.
The total number of reports by Long Beach Transit to police during the 12-month period ending July 30 was almost 700, but most were minor incidents, from fare disputes to a customer complaint about a dirty seat.
The tab for the officers and their cars is $328,816, which will be financed with money from a public transit sales tax that voters approved in 1990.
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