More ambassadors, fewer cops
Re “An in-house police force won’t make Metro any safer” Opinion, Dec. 8
Metro’s Ambassador program is a great addition to the transit system. The staffers, in bright green shirts and unarmed, are enormously helpful and reassuring. They increase the sense of safety with their presence and service. They provide information and help. They convey concern and present caring faces to riders.
I hope this program will be awarded much of the money that may instead go toward creating an in-house Metro police force. More policing simply underscores fear without addressing the issues with which our troubled and vulnerable neighbors struggle.
Police officers are trained and oriented to police. The crises of mental health, dangerous drug use and lack of housing will not be resolved by more police officers who are not properly trained to address such calamities.
We need more people whose mission it is to provide such assistance, and the Metro Ambassadors fit that bill. Jo Ann Dawson, Northridge
The opinion piece lauding Metro Ambassadors makes the program sound like a success. Still, the management of safety in the Metro system seems unfocused.
Recently, my wife and boarded a D Line train (formerly the Purple Line) at Los Angeles Union Station while four uniformed security officers were confronting a screaming, aggressive, mentally disturbed man on the platform.
Their solution? Herd the screaming guy into our crowded train car just before it pulled out.
Thank you, security. Meanwhile, the yummy food service areas at Union Station remain the safest places in the depot.
Ben Herndon
Los Angeles