The BART Police Department is pursuing an aggressive recruiting campaign to fill 28 officer vacancies.
The announcement comes after the BART Board of Directors unanimously approved an agreement that increased BPD officer salaries to make them competitive with other Bay Area law enforcement agencies.
BPD salaries had previously been 19% below the market average for 10 comparable jurisdictions.
“We are pulling out all stops to fill our current officer vacancies and continue our progress toward making BART the safest way to travel the Bay Area,” said interim Police Chief Kevin Franklin.” Competitive pay is essential to attracting the top officer candidates, and we believe this pay increase will help BPD attract excellent candidates. We also offer state-of-the-art equipment and training, an array of special assignments, and an unmatched commitment to community policing across the Bay Area.”
BART General Manager Bob Powers and the BART Board have committed to adding 19 additional new officer positions once BPD fills all its current vacancies.
“We are putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to ensuring the safety of our riders,” said Powers. “In addition to our success adding Crisis Intervention Specialists and Transit Ambassadors, these new sworn BPD officers represent an important investment in the safety and security of the BART system that the Bay Area demands, and we will provide. We know that by filling these vacancies through the duration of 2023, as well as adding additional, highly-trained BPD positions, we will ensure BART is safer and cleaner for all our riders.”
BPD has set a goal of hiring 6 officers a month starting in August. In the latest quarter the department hired 11 officer candidates that are currently attending police academy, another 6 have graduated from academy, and 2 laterals from other police departments.
F that … save some money and hire AI robots with lethal weapons … who needs humans anyways … Let’s go Metaverse!!!!
BART Board of Directors unanimously approved an agreement. Well that’s a first . Maybe the heat made them slow down and think. Don’t hold your britches.
Wait a minute, . . . . . . WHAT ? ? ?
What happened to defund the Police ? ? ?
.
Does this mean the era of liberal STUPID is ending ? ?
One wonders how BART can afford the hiring if it is only carrying 40% of pre-pandemic levels.
I see fare increases as the only way. Perhaps raise taxes, but there is a political price to pay.
Oakland and SF are too dangerous to travel via BART and both are economically dead. I hope I
live long enough to see some positive news coming from those cities.
… and why didn’t they do this before ? I’ll believe it when I see it
Be very skeptical that this move by BART will reduce vagrancy and unsafe and/or disgusting behavior in the system.
.
With what money???
Maybe they will have the money if they downsize the service to fit the number of passengers, get the dregs of society off the trains to make them safer, and catch the fare evaders.
I remember the good ol’ days taking BART to Raider games and concerts in Oaktown. Sadly those days are long gone. A “safer and cleaner BART” will still dump you out into a sh*thole.