LOS ANGELES COUNTY : MTA Urged to Keep Transit Police Jobs
The county transit police force got another morale boost Friday when a committee recommended keeping the status quo, with sheriff’s deputies patrolling one line and transit police handling everything else.
At a special meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Executive Management Committee, panelists voted unanimously to recommend retaining the MTA transit police for its security needs, said MTA spokesman Steve Chesser. The full MTA board will take up the issue at its April 27 monthly meeting.
The management committee also urged the MTA board to expand the MTA police force to provide security when the east-west Metro Green Line opens next year.
The MTA has a contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement on the Metro Blue Line, the first of the agency’s ambitious schedule of rail projects. That contract expires June 30, and the management committee recommended today that the MTA study other options before renewing it, Chesser said.
The MTA is trying to decide whether to keep the MTA police or go with a joint sheriff’s and Los Angeles Police Department force. The stakes are high: The 10-year contract could be worth nearly $1 billion.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
