[Monitor] Metro Transit Police Department reinvents itself

Under chief John Harrington, department to add beat cops at light rail stations

by Tesha M. Christensen

When the lightrail line on University Ave. opens next year, there will be 15 Metro Transit Police Officers patrolling it.

The officers will do more than ride the trains and check fares. They will also actively patrol the stations and work to build relationships with riders.

According to Metro Transit Police Department Chief John Harrington, ridership studies have shown that people feel the most at risk when they are on a platform waiting for a train or bus transfer.

Since assuming leadership of Metro Transit’s police officers a year ago, Harrington has worked to change the philosophy of the department, and with that address 85 recommendations for change made by the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute before his tenure. He doesn’t want to see officers merely react to crime when it happens. He wants them to help prevent it by operating as neighborhood beat cops.

OFFICERS ADDED

To accomplish that goal, he has been adding more staff.

“I fundamentally believe that when I got here, the department was understaffed,” said Harrington, whose background is in community policing.

In the last year, Metro Transit has added administrators, supervisors and officers. There were 22 new part-time officers added in April 2013, and 19 full-time in August. Another 26 part-time officers will join the ranks this fall.

In the hires, Harrington has sought to create a department that reflects the communities it serves. When he was chief of the St. Paul Police Department, he sought to ensure that 20% of officers were people of color and/or women. He hopes to reach that goal again while at Metro Transit. Of those hired in August, half were people of color, and several were multi-lingual, Harrington observed. He pointed out that 100 foreign languages are spoken within the Metro Transit area.

“We have a lot of work to do until the department is truly reflective,” Harringson said. “This is just the beginning.”

The cost of each officer is $93,000 per year (salary, benefits and supplies). Metro Transit Police Department’s total budget in 2013 is roughly $12.41 million.

There are currently 12 officers dedicated to the Hiawatha Blue Line, a number that isn’t enough staff for a beat cop system. Harrington hopes to bump that up and has asked for an increase in his 2014 budget to do so.

The two most common crimes on lightrail are disorderly conduct and the theft of electronics and backpacks, both on and off the train, noted Harrington.

Each day, 260,000 people hop on a Metro Transit bus and train. When there’s a problem, officers average a 2 minutes or less response time.

CHALLENGES OF A MOVING SYSTEM

The 83 full-time Metro Transit police officers cover the second biggest jurisdiction in the state, one that stretches over 8 counties, 90 cities, 3,246 square miles and 3 million people.

The size comes with its set of challenges, one Harrington believes only a department dedicated to transit can handle. He pointed out that the crimes Metro Transit deals with don’t fit easily in one geographic space, which makes it tough for city police departments to handle. For instance, a bus might start out from St. Paul and end in Minneapolis. The victim might live in Brooklyn Center and the witnesses spread throughout several other cities. So, whose job is it to handle, who does the follow-up and who pays for it?

Metro Transit’s Police Department was created 20 years ago in acknowledgement of those problems, pointed out Harrington. “We are unique,” he said.

That’s not to say Metro Transit works alone. Rather, the department partners with many other organizations. Harrington is currently working to establish formal memorandums of understanding with the many cities and other entities (such as the University of Minnesota) in their jurisdiction to clearly outline who handles what. His goal is that each group “share information so that investigations can be seamless and the perpetrator brought to justice,” Harrington remarked.

PAST EXPERIENCE A BOON

To accomplish this task, Harrington is relying on the relationships and colleagues from his 30 years with the St. Paul Police Department, six of which he spent as chief there. He believes that the trust he has built over up his career is a boon to him in his position with Metro Transit.

From his time as senator, Harrington has brought a broad view of problem solving.

“The legislature prompted me to look at things from a regional perspective,” Harrington stated.

The mission of Metro Transit is to be a safe, cost-effective and efficient provider of transit throughout the metro area.

Since he came on board in September 2012, Harrington the role of metro transit has shifted and changed alot, Harrington pointed out. “We’ve pretty much reinvented ourselves,” he noted.

“This year we’ll go through another reinvention.”