LOS ANGELES () — The deadly hijacking of a Los Angeles Metro bus has raised many concerns about public safety.
The violent incident happened early Wednesday morning and is again putting a spotlight on the difficulties of safeguarding the transit system’s buses and trains.
Police said 51-year-old Lamont Campbell hijacked the Line 81 bus, which was traveling southbound and was carrying the driver and two passengers. After a chase, the bus came to a stop in downtown L.A. and the suspect surrendered.
One of the passengers, identified as Anthony Rivera, was killed in the incident.
Metro Board Chair and L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn spoke with Eyewitness News on Sunday to discuss the board’s plans to keep riders and employees safe.
7: Has crime and violence on Metro reached a crisis level? Do you think riders have lost confidence in the system?
Hahn: “Well, you’re right. As chair of Board of Directors of Metro, public safety for the riders, as well as for the employees, has been one of my top priorities. But before I go into too much, I really want to, first of all, give my condolences to the family of Anthony Rivera.
I also wanted to give kudos to the bus driver who, with a gun at his head, was able to safely maneuver that bus for an hour while the police were trying to bring the situation under control and had the mental clarity to push that panic button that then scrolled across the front of the bus … ‘Emergency. Call 911.’
Those two things I think were really amazing, and we had one of those bus barriers around the driver so that the gunman could not reach over and take control of the bus like what happened last year when the bus crashed into the Ritz Carlton in downtown.
So, we’re making improvements, but clearly, one incident like this sends shockwaves through the public, through the riders. One of the things I think about a lot is those folks in L.A. County that have to take our transit system.
There are people in L.A. County who are transit-dependent. They don’t even own a car. They take two and three buses or railcars to get to their job, the hospital, a doctor’s appointment, to school. So there’s a lot we need to do to get ready for the Olympics, the World Cup, but I think right now, there are a couple of things I want Metro to feel a sense of urgency about.
One is … I think we’ve got to figure out how to keep weapons off the system.
You can’t go to a Dodger game, you can’t go to a concert, you certainly can’t go and board an airplane without going through a weapons-detection technology.
I want us to get even more serious about that. We’re testing three different technologies right now to see which one might work, but I’m done with excuses about why it can’t work.
I want everyone to really work on that. I also believe that our riders want to see more law enforcement officers visible on the trains and the buses.
I know they can’t be on all the trains and all the buses, but I think having them more visible could be a deterrent to crime or they could be there in the midst of something happening and actually stop it.”
7: Tell us more about the pilot programs underway
Hahn: “We’re testing three different weapons-detection technology. I think one detects like a mass that would resemble a weapon, a gun, a knife, in someone’s backpack or pocket. They’ll be able to detect it that way.
There’s also one that basically … cameras that are more strategically placed. It could actually visibly catch someone holding a weapon, you know, brandishing a weapon.
Then there’s the poles that I think many of us are familiar with that we walk through when we go to a building. The Hollywood Bowl has instituted something where you actually walk through something and it detects.
There’s a lot of issues with all of those. If they’re on too high, detecting somebody’s key or phone.
But again, I’m done with excuses.
I don’t care how much security we have, if we’re still allowing people to get on our system with a loaded guns, knives, lead pipes, then we’re putting people’s lives in danger. So more law enforcement being visible and pushing forward with this weapons-detection technology.
I think we’ll keep people safer.”
7: Is it a funding issue? How soon can we see widespread change?
Hahn: “First of all, we can’t afford not to do this.
I haven’t seen the price tag but we can’t afford not to. Every time we have a major incident like this, which made national news, people are less likely to ride our system.
We need people to ride our system, I mean, even to be safe. I know we have big events, worldwide events, coming to Los Angeles, the World Cup .. Olympics, where everyone’s going to be watching us.
We’re trying to get those sporting events car free. So we want a system where people feel safe, they are safe, and I don’t think we can spare any cost to make that happen.”
Television,
