The top people who handled security for the Metro Transit agency are out of a job.
Bi-State Development President Taulby Roach confirmed the departures on Friday but provided no other details, including the names of the two officials.
“We did this in response to what both our ridership and the public have been asking us to do, so that we can chart a new future and improve our service,” Roach said.
He said the changes should improve cooperation with law enforcement, including St. Louis and St. Louis County police.
“Changing the critical leadership positions always gives us an opportunity to work better with our partners,” he said. “And I’m hoping that this is a very strong signal to our partners, who we are already working with every single day, on how we can strengthen our relationships, so that we have better unified plans for deployment and increasing the safety and security and even comfort on our transit system.”
Roach emphasized safety on the system when he was introduced as the new president late last year. It rose to the forefront after a St. Louis County employee who was an innocent bystander to a dispute was shot and killed near the Grand Boulevard MetroLink station. That prompted the St. Louis County Council to trim funding for MetroLink until the agency and the St. Louis County Police Department presented a security plan.
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