LA Metro is considering three types of weapons detections systems and will soon choose the best one for use on the sprawling transit system, Metro officials said on Thursday, a day after a bus was hijacked by a gunman who killed a passenger early Wednesday morning in downtown Los Angeles.
“We are piloting three different weapons detection technology ideas and we will see which one of those works,” said L.A. County Supervisor and LA Metro board chair Janice Hahn during Thursday’s board meeting.
LA Metro Board Chair Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County supervisor, speaks during Metro’s “State of the Agency” at Union Station in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
The beefing up of security began in April after two murders on the system. In May, Metro authorized a “surge” in law enforcement, a tap-to-exit program that is regarded as a way to remove riders who do not pay their fares, and agreed to add metal detecting on at least parts of the system.
L.A. Mayor and Metro board member Karen Bass said on Thursday she hoped to see a report very soon on a video analytics weapon detection system being tested at Union Station in downtown L.A. “At the next board meeting, we can get a report on that pilot program to see how quickly we can expand it systemwide,” she said.
Metro is looking at a system already being tested in Chicago. It uses existing security cameras to scan the transit passengers, plus Artificial Intelligence to identify a brandished weapon. The image is verified by human staffers in a centralized enforcement center, who make a decision whether it is a weapon and give a description of the suspect to authorities.
This system could only be used at train stations or rail platforms, not inside a bus, said Robert Gummer, Metro deputy chief of System Security and Law Enforcement. Buses do not have the cameras, nor the wavelength to transmit images.
This type of system is used in other locations in the United States, according to reports from the Chicago Transit Authority. But it does not require people to queue up and walk through a metal detector, which often creates long lines at entrances to concert venues, ballgames and before boarding an airplane.
Gummer said CTA, as well as New York MTA and the Las Vegas Transit Authority are testing this kind of weapons detection program. LA Metro will soon test the other kinds of metal detector systems, Gummer said.
Metro was not the only transit agency to experience such a crime. Three other cities’ transit systems has had a bus hijacked in the last four months, Metro reported.
Metro is also relying on a different type of safety technology not involving high-tech cameras or computers with AI. The agency received the go-ahead in April from the board to expedite the installation of hardened, plastic barriers to protect bus operators from dangerous passengers.
The bus operator of the Line 81 bus, who had a gun pointed at his head by the hijacker was not removed from the driver’s seat because he was protected by the barrier, Hahn said. Also, the operator was able to push a silent alarm. This changed the electronic display on the outside of the bus from “Go Dodgers!” to “911 Call Police.”
Hahn said this was the first time she’s ever seen this emergency message on a Metro bus. “There were multiple 9-1-1 calls resulting from people seeing the front of that bus,” she said. LAPD knew which bus was being hijacked, and was able to put down spike strips to disable the bus. After about an hour, the bus stopped at Alameda Street south of Sixth Street. where the driver escaped though his window.
A man was found inside the bus with gunshot wounds, but details about what led up to the shooting were not immediately available. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.
Police arrested 51-year-old Lamont Campbell, who was booked on suspicion of murder.
LA Metro has added protective barriers to 851 of the 2,105 buses in its fleet, said Stephanie Wiggins, Metro CEO. That amount to 40% completed, she added.
“We are on track to have them all completed before the end of December,” Wiggins said.
Wednesday’s hijacking was the latest in a string of violent incidents that have marred the county’s public-transportation system and spurred demands for changes.
Those include the killing of Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, a teacher visiting from Mexico who was on a Line 108 bus in Commerce when he was shot in the back of the head in an unprovoked attack in May.
Mirna Soza Arauz, 66, was headed home from her job on the B Line train in April when she was fatally stabbed in the neck while at the University City Station in Studio City.
The suspects in both of those cases were caught and charged with murder.