The second cohort of Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) held its first meeting on Saturday at Metro headquarters as the agency continues to roll out elements of the reimagined public safety plan that our first PSAC helped influence.  

The PSAC was created in 2020 to help Metro create a more holistic, equitable and welcoming approach to public safety, in recognition that each individual is entitled to a safe, dignified and human experience. The formation of the PSAC came in the wake of the protests across the United States (and the world) in 2020 against racial injustices, in particular those perpetrated by police.  

The first PSAC completed its work last year. Recognizing the importance of continued public input to the way Metro approaches public safety — and taking into consideration what we learned from the first PSAC cohort — we made some changes. The PSAC is now overseen by our Customer Experience (CX) staff – since improving all aspects of riding, including public safety, is a key goal of the CX department.  

We’re also asking for PSAC input on issues that we are currently grappling with – societal issues such as increased crime and homelessness that are impacting Metro. We also want the PSAC to help guide us on issues such as reporting crime, improving the physical environment of our stations (lighting and callboxes, for example), the Metro Ambassador program, and how best to deploy social workers and mental health professionals on the system.  

Metro took applications for the PSAC last fall, seeking members who:  

• Are a regular rider of Metro buses and/or trains.
• Are committed to ensuring that Metro follows best practices for providing service that is safe and feels safe for its customers.
• Bring relevant knowledge and expertise as a resident, advocate for racial justice and/or public safety reform, law enforcement expert, mental health provider or expert, or social services provider or expert.

The meeting of the PSAC on Saturday gave members the chance to meet one another, learn more about the Brown Act (which provides for open public meetings) and receive a briefing from Metro staff on public safety initiatives we’re taking to improve conditions at Westlake/MacArthur Station (please see this Source post).  

The current members of the PSAC are:

Brandon Cheng
Candis Welch
Catherine Baltazar
Darryl Goodus
David Sanchez
Delia Arriaga
Estar (Hyeonjin) Park
Florence Anang
Jeremy Oliver-Ronceros
John Curley
Mariana Estrada
Mary Rose Fissinger
Misty Wilks
Olga Lexell
Troy Pierce

PSAC alternate members are:

Hector Soliman-Valdez
Brian Buchner 

PSAC Ex-Officio (Non-voting metro employees) and alternate members are:

Dilraj Thandi
Rafael Mastrangelo Jr
Daniel De La Cruz
Stephanie Bunker
Melissa Williams

The PSAC will hold its next meeting at Metro Headquarters at 6 p.m., Thursday, March 16.