Crimes On Muni Have Folks Asking Where Cameras, Police Are

A camera is only useful to find a suspect or prosecute someone after they have been caught. It doesn't prevent violence in the first instance, and it's not working as a deterrent.

Cops on buses is a joke, a concept that Muni and civic leaders love to flog when the media reports on Muni violence. First, cops hate getting on buses because most cops hate getting out of their patrol cars (trust me on this one, my ex-girlfriend is an SFPD officer in the Mission).

Second, there is an effective SFPD Muni "robbery abatement team" that does set stings on Muni. These incidents, however, don't go very far in protecting against random acts of violence.

Third, Muni drivers are "common carrier"; by state law, they owe the highest possible duty to their passengers. Muni drivers could not care less about passenger safety and usually refuse to get involved in any kind of incident.

So, forget cameras on the Muni. Focus on either (1) a dedicated transit security force that rides the system exclusively, like BART; or (2) give drivers an SFPD panic button with GPS that notifies police where the bus is.

The UK is littered with security cameras, and on average they "solve" one crime a year for every 1,000 cameras:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/6081549/One-crime-solved-for-every-1000-CCTV-cameras-senior-officer-claims.html

If you think of security cameras as a trade-off between cost & privacy vs. security, they're a pretty lousy one. Seeing as we get little-to-no security benefit, I say we rip them out and redirect the taxpayer money that goes into maintaining them towards something that actually works... and get rid of the 1984-esque constant surveillance in the meantime.

Couple things come to mind here:

1.) I've been seeing more police officers (the ones with guns) on MUNI recently. Both wandering the subway station and on the trains and buses. Having cops on the vehicles is only as much of a joke as the cops make it. What's the excuse for cops who are walking a beat? They don't want to step off their sidewalks? Cops on transit vehicles goes pretty darn far in protecting against random acts of violence.

2.) What's this about a smart card system? I saw a post on SFGate or SFist (don't remember which) that cops were using translink. Aside from intertia, and the absurdity that is a TL card history report, I can't imagine what would keep the MTA from at least using TL to start to keep tabs on the cops.

3.) MUNI drivers are supposed to call in fights and such. The two women going at it did not get called in. Judson True didn't have a reason why or any indication of whether or not disciplinary action would be taken. That'd be nice to have an answer for.

3b.) I was reading something a while back (probably around the time that thugs were disabling the hybrid buses) indicating that there are panic switches on all the vehicles for the drivers to hit. Except that they don't work reliably and thus both drivers and dispatchers ignore them. Any word on whether or not this has been fixed or will be fixed?

4.) Look through the daily service reports. People throwing shit at the buses is way, way too common. We ought to collar these twats and get them to clean the buses. No jail time, just cleaning the graffiti and other crap that accumulates on these buses and trains.

@Alex: what it really comes down to is that most police are lazy and hateful about the bus assignment. Many are resentful at walking the beat at all; increased foot patrols were recommended in a study ("PERF") and then mandated by Chief Fong. Cops I met hated PERF and hated walking anywhere. They don't like it when it's too hot, too cold, too sunny, or too foggy. They also resent having to ride a bus when nothing appears to be happening. They would prefer to answer calls from dispatch using patrol cars.

An MTA only police force wouldn't solve this. Look at BART sites where riders complain that most BART cops are in their cars, and not on the trains. It's a cultural thing.

The police ought to be involved in the communities they represent. There are monthly community meetings at each police station. The last time I went was for a class assignment... the only non-classmates there were essentially your typical nosy neighbor types. If we as a community want more police presence on the buses, we've gotta prove it. Show up to the monthly meetings, show up to PR stunts that your district rep puts on, show up to the PR stunts that our mayor sniffles puts on, etc.

I hear you Alex, but I am too cynical about the SFPD. I respect what they do, but the rank and file are stubborn about riding Muni and the command structure isn't making it a priority.