$6.8 million will help BART beef up security
FEMA grant will help fund more patrols, digital cameras, new radio equipment
BART got a $6.8 million boost from the federal government to beef up security on its trains and platforms, the agency said Monday.
The funds represent a nearly 10 percent infusion to the department’s $75 million budget and come at a time when the transit agency is figuring out how to pay for a $25 million safety plan that adds $3 million in annual operating costs. The safety plan follows a series of stabbings, including one Saturday at the Mac-Arthur Station, the same station where four other people were slashed in recent weeks in two separate incidents — one of which was fatal.
BART’s police chief instituted mandatory overtime staffing, which began Aug. 6, with everyone in the department working 60hour work weeks. But, the emergency staffing plan ended Sunday, said BART spokesman Jim Allison. Now, extra shifts will be voluntary, he said.
BART’s governing board approved parts of the proposed safety plan earlier this month, but delayed the most controversial elements, including whether to install an advanced surveillance system and ban panhandling, among others. The board’s next meeting
in September is expected to address those items and will be held at night in a city other than Oakland, where BART is headquartered, to allow riders in other parts of the East Bay the opportunity to comment.
The $6.8 million grant from FEMA will help pay for a dedicated team of officers to patrol trains traveling through BART’s busiest stations, upgraded security cameras and radio equipment at its Powell Street, Civic Center and 16th Street stations.
Established in 2011, BART police’s Critical Asset Patrol, or CAP, team is tasked with deterring terrorist activity and looking out for suspicious activities, but the agency said it would also help increase officers’ visibility on trains and in stations.
The grant will also help BART convert its analog cameras at 16th Street to digital ones and install radio equipment to connect to regional systems for San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The radio equipment will allow police officers, firefighters and paramedics to maintain radio coverage on their own radios even when underground.
BART applied for the grant on June 4, Allison said. But, it took some nudging by Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Dublin, to actually get the award, BART’s General Manager Grace Crunican said in a statement.
“The grant provides an extra boost to the important steps we’re already taking to improve the safety and security of BART riders,” she said.