Part 1 Crime 2008-2012_Jan-Oct

After last week’s tragic rape aboard a Metro bus, customers and media have been asking about crime on the Metro system.

The above document (pdf here) compiled by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department — which contracts with Metro to patrol the agency’s system — includes statistics through early this month along with comparisons to previous years.

Context is important. Metro has about 1.5 million boardings on the average weekday and has had nearly 400 million boardings thus far in 2012, including the new Expo Line. Metro also now owns Union Station and about 75,000 people a day pass through that facility.

While ridership has increased in the past five years, the rate of crime has been about the same. As the charts show, there is currently 1.2 part one crimes for every million boardings on the bus with higher numbers on the individual rail lines.

Violent crimes are relatively few, but there has been a notable 41 percent increase in robberies and grand theft persons, with many of those the result of the theft of cell phones and other handheld electronic devices, according to the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

Passengers should be aware of their surroundings and keep their cell phones, iPads and purses close to them. Please see this earlier post with some safety tips.

As we have said before, Metro is unfortunately not a crime-free system. Neither is the area served by Metro. For example, the city of Los Angeles has seen more than 87,000 part one crimes in 2012. That may sound like a lot but Los Angeles is a big, sprawling city and on a day-to-day basis the vast majority of people safely live, work in and visit L.A. The same can be said about Metro.