In response to concerns about safety on the BART system, the transit agency’s board voted unanimously Thursday to approve an ambassadorship program in which unarmed police department employees will ride trains from 2 p.m. to midnight seven days a week, with extra coverage on Saturdays.
The six-month pilot program, which will cost $690,000, is scheduled to begin on Feb. 10.
The ambassadors will be recruited from the ranks of the BART Police Department’s Community Service Officers, non-sworn personnel who perform a variety of police services. The ambassadors will receive additional de-escalation and anti-bias training.
“This team will be police employees and trained to provide a sense of safety and security for our riders on-board trains and deter crime,” BART Interim Police Chief Ed Alvarez said in a statement.
“I worked closely with our board members, the general manager (Robert Powers), and police unions to develop a program that is responsive to our riders and is able to launch seamlessly, safely, and quickly,” Alvarez
said.
BART officials said 10 ambassadors will walk trains in teams of two and will focus their patrols on the most heavily traveled section of the system, the transbay corridor between the 12th Street Oakland and San Francisco Civic Center stations.
During crowded evening commute hours, the ambassadors will increase their coverage areas to other sections of the system, such as from the Oakland Coliseum to Union City and Walnut Creek to Pittsburg/Bay Point portions.
“Our ambassadors will serve as extra eyes and ears on-board trains,” BART Board President Lateefah Simon said.
Simon said, “It’s a promising, first-of-its kind program at BART that will provide a welcoming presence focused on customer service and curbing inappropriate behavior.”
BART officials said the ambassadors will wear easily-identifiable uniforms that are distinct from those of community service officers or fare inspectors.
The ambassadors will be equipped with radios to report safety and security concerns or biohazards and will also be trained to respond to customers’ questions, complaints or requests for service.
The ambassadors will observe and report and call an officer when enforcement is needed.
BART Director Debora Allen said, “I am pleased existing community service officers who are vetted, hired, trained and supervised by sworn police officers will be on trains on nights and weekends.”
Allen said, “I’ve been urging BART to add additional layers of security on board trains since I was elected to the board and our vote today is a step in the right direction.”
QUESTION: Do you think this is good, or should BART actually put armed officers on trains?
Aren’t we all ambassadors or will the police be more responsive to official ambassadors?
No and no.
Your question is a good one since BART has had the BART Watch app available for some time. You can send incident reports in real time to BART PD. So we are all “ambassadors” in a way. My experience using the app and acting like an “ambassador” has been met with mixed results. Sometimes a decent response and others zero interest.
I think the hired ambassadors will get a higher priority as compared to the general public. But if it’s something serious you still need armed PD to be accessible. With a BPD shortage I’m not sure the serious stuff will change. I am hopeful however.
Stop or I’ll ask you too stop again!
Put armed police on the traiins
Akin to putting a band aid on a bullet wound. The bad guys will not be deterred by Community Service Officers, aka Ambassadors, carrying radios. They don’t fear getting caught anymore with California’s weak on crime laws. Besides, with everyone carrying cell phones these days the criminals will communicate to each other which trains have officers on board if they want to avoid them. Hope I’m wrong. Enact criminal punishments that actually deter crime and we may see a difference but I think we all know that will never happen as long as the Liberal Clowns in Sacramento hold a super majority.
What a joke!!!
Influenced by the snowflakes of California and submitting to the liberal agenda, misuse of important funds to coddle miscreants!
Shouldn’t BART have police officers on trains ALWAYS???? How can they police the system when all they do is drive from station to station? We need them ON the trains, not in the stations or in their police cars.
Exactly. BART police offices should be just that.
Uniformed victims? Somehow, coming from BART, this makes sense.
Now they can really crack down on platform dining.
BART officers should be armed. And they should always be on the trains.
Lol you’re trying to put police officers on Bart without weapons you are really not smart whoever is in charge over there. You ever seen that movie with Sigourney Weaver called aliens when they walked into the alien hive without weapons? that’s what it’s going to be like for BART police
Could BART be run any worse? They seem to be taking their lead from all of the inept politicians of California. Wait until the first set of ambassadors get their a** kicked off of the train.
They’re currently in talks with Kim Jung Un to have him take over management of BART operations.
He would be better for sure.
A whole force that only patrol parking lots and a closed train with a captive public. How could there be any crime??
At least give the officers a fighting chance!
Give them Tasers, Batons, Handcuffs, Saps
I am for pistols also, but if the Bart Board is afraid of missing shots and hitting multiple passengers then give them the type of bullets that Sky Marshals use, inside are small pellets that disburse like a miniature shotgun.
Why not just give them sawed off shotguns and let them have a go at it.
*Always arm your law enforcement!
It might help incrementally, until someone committing a crime decides to stab one of the unarmed “ambassadors”.
108RS
Agree with How the F. BART police officers are hired to patrol/protect BART. Stations count, but the majority of “BART” is the trains. There should be at least one officer on every train at all times.
A lot of people missing the point.
They will receive “anti bias training”
That is just so special.
Hard to use the “Real Time Bart App” when there isn’t wifi on the trains.
How long until one of these officers is stabbed, murdered, or brutally beaten?
I give it until the summer heatwave.
Definetly…
BART will never please everyone. If they are armed, people will complain. If they aren’t, people will complain. This is a “pilot program” which means they will be evaluating for possible changes and may request feedback from the public. Surely their Ambassadors will provide them feedback throughout the pilot.
BART gets very very crowded, I can see how easy it would be for a “bad guy” to pull a gun from a holster. I also think that those protecting us should be protected with the proper equipment. I can see both sides. These aren’t easy decisions.
I don’t need to ride BART and with all the stories last year I have stayed away so I’m happy to hear they are at least paying attention to the public’s call for safety.
Crooks only understand one thing: A weapon bigger than their own.
What are these poor ambassadors going to do?
Reason with people to death? Team building exercises?
They will work in teams of two, so mix nationalities to keep John Burris away.
They must be armed, for their own safety, and that of the BART riders.
Good. If CA politicians deprive the citizens the right to be armed for their own protection, the cops in their district shouldn’t be armed either.
Let’s be rational and honest, cops carry guns for their own protection, not ours.
Dirtnap You have it wrong. If the citizens are not allowed to be armed then the police have to be armed. Unarmed citizens and unarmed police leaves everyone unprotected from the criminals. There is nothing wrong with the Police protecting themselves. We should all be allowed to protect ourselves. No one wants to or should be a victim. I am sorry for asking but how old are you?
I hope they give them protective vests. I think this is going to be real risky business.
Sounds like a good idea, as long as they don’t hurt any ones feelings.
They have received training on using “inside voice”, even if outside.
BART patrons caught eating will receive a yellow card. Those threatening others with weapons will receive a red card.
Omg that just gave me chills
Who is going to volunteer to do this job?
$690,000 X 2 / 10 = $138,000 a year in wages to walk up and down trains doing nothing of any real worth, with no ability or obligation to arrest or if necessary subdue the kind of criminals that are a fact of daily life of BART trains?
This is madness, this is excess, it is largess, it is the creation of cushy, do-nothing, feel-good job with insanely high wages for the infinitesimal amount of impact it will make, a job which will probably go to friends of friends in an ongoing system of cronyism.
BART stinks.