Just before the onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis, Taulby Roach told St. Louis on the Air that Metro Transit had identified security concerns as a key problem within the regional public transportation system — and was deploying a comprehensive strategy to improve community trust.
“What we’d been hearing for months is that we had to do better,” the president and CEO of Bi-State Development told host Sarah Fenske on March 4.
Now, nine months later, Roach and local law enforcement leaders say real progress has been made. They’re touting an independent quarterly assessment of their efforts, with the recent establishment of “collaborative, functioning working relationships with law enforcement” as one area highlighted.
St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts is one local leader whose office has expanded its partnership with Metro. This fall, the number of sheriff’s deputies available to serve as off-duty secondary officers at various transit centers increased from 16 to 42.
“Since our involvement [beginning in late 2019], we have seen a notable decrease in incidents, and I am happy Metro wants to expand this partnership,” Betts said in September. “Deputies are there to provide backup to Metro security and enforce decorum on MetroLink. We have found that when you stop disruptive behavior, it leads to a decrease in incidents that rise to the level of criminal infractions.”
Both Roach and Betts joined Monday’s noon show to give an update on the security front and discuss how Metro is operating during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
Betts said that his deputies receive training from Metro specific to their work with the transportation system — and that the deputies bring a “customer friendly” focus with them because of the nature of their frequent work at the St. Louis courthouse.
“We bring that to our job at MetroLink, that kind of customer service. That’s what we want to present: not just a force to be reckoned with, but a friendly force. And I think it’s really helped out,” Betts explained.
Roach described the renewed partnerships with Betts and other area law enforcement agencies as part of making “that transit neighborhood somewhere everybody wants to be.” Incident numbers, he added, are “trending in the right direction.”
He also touched on how Metro is managing operations as the coronavirus pandemic drags on and responded to listener tweets and emails. Several callers joined the conversation as well.
Transit riders: What’s your experience with @STLMetro been like in recent months? Let us know. Bi-State CEO Taulby Roach and #STL Sheriff Vernon Betts say Metro has made strides when it comes to security. They join today's show to tell us more. https://t.co/gZkRnbH0dD pic.twitter.com/s4E3cmW0Bw
— St. Louis on the Air (@STLonAir) December 7, 2020
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
