Recent Streetsblog LA posts about LASD

The Metro board voted today for an additional $32 million for transit policing. Screenshot of Metro meeting vote tally

Metro Board Approves $36M for Transit Policing Overruns, Plus Safety Alternatives Next Year

By Joe Linton | Mar 25, 2021 | No Comments

Today's approval brings Metro transit policing price up to $150 million per year, well above the $130 million per year approved in 2017

LAPD patrolling Metro - capture from 2017 Metro video

Editorial: Metro Board Needs to Reject More Funding for Transit Police

By Joe Linton and Damien Newton | Mar 24, 2021 | No Comments

Don't settle for more punitive policing-as-usual. Don't waste any more time in making good on your promises to reform transit policing.

There's a lot riding on Metro's Public Safety Advisory Committee. Image via Metro

Metro Postpones Approving Transit Policing Cost Overruns – for the Third Time

By Joe Linton | Mar 19, 2021 | No Comments

The proposed $36M increase to Metro's transit policing budget will be heard at next week's board meeting

The February 9 encounter near Manchester and Figueroa began with officers telling Travis Elster he was illegally parked in a private parking lot, but the placement of the officer's hand inside the vehicle was one of several forms of escalation. Elster ultimately fled the scene and was shot at eight times by LAPD officer Carlos Tovar. Tovar managed to hit Elster's vehicle as well as the vehicle of a passing Lyft driver, but thankfully no one was injured. Screenshot from the critical incident video released by LAPD.

Officer Fires 8 Wildly Out-of-Policy Shots at Man Fleeing Pretextual Stop; Evolving LAPD Statements Attempt to Pin Blame on Driver

By Sahra Sulaiman | Mar 17, 2021 | No Comments

LAPD is accusing 30yo Travis Elster of assault with a deadly weapon to justify the shooting.

Graphic from ACT-LA Metro as a Sanctuary report

Alliance for Community Transit Publishes New Report on Metro Policing

By Joe Linton | Mar 17, 2021 | No Comments

ACT-LA's report "Metro as a Sanctuary: Reimagining Safety on Public Transit" reviews past Metro transit policing issues and offers solutions to inform Metro's current process to reexamine and reform its transit policing practices.

Priorities All Wrong: Metro Proposes Delaying Service Restoration While Increasing Money for Policing

By Joe Linton | Feb 22, 2021 | No Comments

Many on the Metro board and in the public are scratching their heads on Metro doubling down on discriminatory practices at a moment when they had pledged to address the agency's historic role in perpetuating that kind of harm.

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