Deploying more officers on BART trains resulted in increased felony arrests over the past year, according to the transit agency.
The rapid transit system saw a 62% increase in arrests last year compared to 2022. The jump coincides with recruitment efforts of new officers and a strategic increase in the presence of safety personnel aboard trains, according to a statement from BART on Thursday.
Officers logged a total of 726 felony arrests in 2023, a sharp rise from the 448 recorded in the preceding year. They confiscated 49 illegal firearms, the highest number recovered by BART police in a single year since at least 2003.
BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin said the impact is the result of deploying more patrol officers on trains, noting that riders have reported noticing a palpable difference in safety. The latest quarterly performance review revealed that 20% of riders reported seeing BART police during their trips, an increase from the previous record of 17% in the preceding quarter.
“Last year we made probably the single biggest change in our deployment strategy that I have seen in my 27 years here at the BART Police Department and that was to really emphasize train patrol both for our sworn police officers and for our unarmed civilians who are out there in the system,” said Franklin.
He says there are also uniformed ambassadors and even crisis intervention specialists who work with police to address people in crisis to about connecting people to services.
The most frequent crime on BART is disturbing others and other code of conduct violations, according to a BART spokesperson.
BART employs around 214 police officers, around the same number they have had for years, the spokesperson said, but the arrests are due to the increased presence on trains.
“I ride the BART three times a week,” said Marisol Bills.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
She said she relied on BART to get around and has noticed a difference on board recently.
“It was more people aggressive but now, it's better, it's cleaner and I see more police interaction when it's a problem, yes,” she said.
She says seeing police and other changes matter.
“Definitely makes me feel better safer,” said Bills.
In a bid to address staffing shortages, they have implemented a 22% salary increase for officers to be competitive with other law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area.
The agency’s police chief also addressed any riders who may be skeptical about taking public transit.
“I acknowledge that many people are skeptical about safety in public transit right now and I really hope that they give us another chance to come back to BART and just see the amount of work we have put into the system and the positive impact that it's having,” said Franklin.
