As Violent Crime Drops, Metro Transit Increasing Presence in NW Suburbs
Metro Transit is reporting a decrease in violent crime on its lines compared to the previous year.
While transit ridership is down by 7 percent, calls for Metro Transit police service are significantly up.
In quarter two, leaders reported over 17,000 calls for service; a 73 percent increase compared to 2024’s quarter two report. But interim Metro Transit Police Chief Joe Dotseth said more calls are a good thing.
“It is my opinion that the Metro Transit police have never been stronger, or in a better positioned place than they are right now,” Dotseth said.
Those calls have translated to a 13 percent decrease in violent crime.
Those violent crimes, called the “FBI top seven crimes,” include robbery, assault, homicide, sex offenses, larceny, theft from people, motor vehicle theft, burglary, and breaking and entering.
Police presence is also up — and that’s in line with Dotseth’s goals to be present with proactive community outreach.
Staffing is up as well. Dotseth said as of August, 115 officers were on the force. That’s in addition to 21 Community Support Officers and 30 in support services. All of those numbers are below full strength, but he said retention rates are improving.
“We have about 87 percent retention rate. We aren’t seeing any mass exoduses of staff leaving,” Dotseth said.
Metro Transit police will also have a more visible presence in the northwest suburbs.
Police are adding nearly full-time service at the Brooklyn Center Transit Center, which already has a regular police presence.
Metro Transit is also adding end-of-service checks at two other locations: the Highway 610 and Noble Park and Ride in Brooklyn Park, and Robbinsdale Transit Center.
Other locations seeing additional police presence are outside the northwest suburbs.
Matt Broughton, the assistant director of the bus transportation administration, said those changes should happen later this year, likely between October and December.
“All of those locations were selected with a combination of ridership, police calls for service, facilities work orders, customer feedback, and then just overall employee experience on the system,” Broughton explained.
These details were explalined during a Metropolitan Council meeting on August 6. You can view the whole meeting, along with the presentation and agenda, at the Met Council’s website.
