Metro Transit Police: Crime Down More Than 17 Percent
Metro Transit officials say they’ve seen a significant drop in reported crimes on light rail lines and buses.
Across the transit system, crime is down 17.5 percent compared to last year, according to the Metro Transit Police Department.
Metro Transit Police Chief Ernest Morales III says working with outside security forces has helped reduce crime at several stations.
“We’re still working with a third-party security agency, they’re helping us with our presence,” Morales said. “We currently have them at eight of our stations. I would say that their presence has definitely helped us improve the overall success that we’re having.”
Metro Transit police say crime is down 17.5 percent this year across the transit system.
One of those stations is the Brooklyn Center Transit Center.
According to Morales, crime is trending downward at the Brooklyn Center’s station.
“I recently met with the chief over there, [Chief Garett Flesland] about collaborating, and we’ve see a reduction in crime at BCTC,” Morales said. “Numbers are going in the right direction.”
He cited BCTC as a station where third-party security is making a difference.
“Paying attention with our partners in Brooklyn Center PD … [there is a] multi-layered response to the issues [that] are taking place in the area,” Morales said.
That’s a change from November 2023, when Morales said crime was persistent at the Brooklyn Center Transit Center.
Meanwhile, after a drop in ridership during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials say it’s grown about 9 percent over the past year.
