The Alliance for Community Transit (ACT-LA) has posted an emergency email alert asking the public to email the Metro board in support of motions that would shift transit security resources away from police to unarmed responses. ACT-LA are "calling on Metro to divest from its police budget and reinvest funds into our communities through free fares, improved bus infrastructure and service, and neighborhood stability programs."
— Community Power Collective (@CPColectivo) June 24, 2020
The Metro board will meet tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. The meeting agenda includes four motions aimed at retooling Metro's problematic current transit safety approach. Three of the four were authored by Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin, who stated that “Metro needs to be at the forefront of that, and make changes that assure that all of its passengers feel safe. That starts by acknowledging that we cannot rely on an armed police presence for every issue, and we need smarter, more effective solutions.”
In an editorial last week at Streetsblog, ACT-LA explored some of the alternatives to having police enforce situations like homelessness. ACT-LA wrote:
New concepts for rapid bus service across the 626 have ironed out the questions of where an East-West route would run and where demonstrations could begin.
Metro and Caltrans eastbound 91 Freeway widening is especially alarming as it will increase tailpipe pollution in an already diesel-pollution-burdened community that is 69 percent Latino, and 28 percent Black