Public concern is mounting amongst Metro riders in Long Beach as the Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) plans to withdraw from patrolling trains and platforms. The five-year working relationship between LBPD and Metro is drawing to a close with the contract set to expire on December 30, and with the option for only potential month-to-month extensions until March 2025, as shared by NBC Los Angeles and FOX 11. This move by LBPD comes amid staffing shortages and an increase in response times to non-emergency calls within the city.
Long Beach commuters have begun to express their unease, with some, like Karen Williams, noting that the presence of law enforcement had begun to make them feel safer. "It was just starting to get better," Williams, who uses a wheelchair, told NBC Los Angeles. "Pulling the officers off the trains now will make it worse." The looming absence of officers is anticipated to create a deficit in the sense of security for riders.
The reassignment plan includes 11 officers, sergeants, and 1 lieutenant currently deployed on the transit lines, as LBPD grapples with filling more than 150 vacancies, as per an unsigned statement from the LBPD covered by the Long Beach Post. Even as Metro plans to create its own police agency, a yearslong initiative still in infancy, it remains uncertain who will safeguard the Metro's Long Beach segment in the interim period post-contract.
Despite the withdraw, LBPD will continue to respond to calls on Metro property as needed. "Once the contract is expired, we will no longer have LBPD officers on trains and stations, unless dispatched for emergency calls for service," asserted the LBPD, painting an immediate future wherein patrols would notably decrease, barring urgent scenarios. In a statement to KTLA, LA Metro assured that they "will continue to work closely with the Long Beach Police Department to ensure the safety of our stations and customers in alignment with our other law enforcement resources."
Adding further to the sentiment, Long Beach resident Johnny Bumpers conveyed his preference for police observation over security guards on the trains, highlighting the need for law enforcement's presence to monitor and possibly deter disruptive individuals, as NBC Los Angeles reports. For now, riders and platforms will have to rely on private security and the existing police framework, pending the development of a more concrete plan by Metro to fill the void left by the LBPD's reassignment.
