LA Metro riders can expect to pass though metal detectors at more train stations and be scanned at bus stops to determine if electronic screening can keep guns, knives and other weapons off the transit system and make it safer.
The agency’s board of directors voted 10-0 on Thursday, Feb. 27, to expand its pilot weapon-detection testing for one year, which uses high-tech systems designed to catch passengers who are boarding and carrying, or brandishing, weapons.
The additional testing will include adding archway screening at the busiest transit stations, as well as employing mobile detection technology using closed circuit video surveillance and artificial intelligence software to detect weapons on passengers, including those aboard a minimum of two Metro buses.
Testing these systems has not taken place on buses. Metro reported it was working with a vendor to begin mobile testing.
“You can’t bring a weapon to a concert or a Dodger game, and you shouldn’t be able to bring a weapon on Metro,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who also chairs the LA Metro board.
“The weapons detection technology we are already testing at some Metro stations works and is showing promise in deterring people from even attempting to bring guns and knives onto Metro,” Hahn added.
Metal detectors, along with taller fare gates to prevent fare-evaders, and requiring passengers to tap-to-exit to require those who skipped paying to pay their fare or be ticketed, are being implemented after a rash of violence on the system last year.
In a separate motion, the board voted to install taller fare gates at 11 more stations beginning in March at the Lake Station in Pasadena and the Firestone Station, both on the A Line train, to stop people from hopping over the gates. The long light-rail line from Azusa to Long Beach has a 49% rate of fare evasion, Metro reported.
Last year, LA Metro reported that the majority of crimes on the system were committed by those who don’t pay their fares.
Two murders of passengers in 2024 appear to have been committed by assailants who were mentally ill, as both killings were unprovoked, law enforcement authorities reported.
Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, a teacher visiting from Mexico, was fatally shot while riding on a Line 108 bus in Commerce on May 17. The second murder was the stabbing of a 66-year-old grandmother on April 22. Mirna Soza Arauz was riding the B Line train at the Universal City Station in Studio City when she was stabbed in the neck. She was found mortally wounded on the platform.
“We had people coming to us a lot, saying they did not ride our system because they did not feel safe,” Hahn said. “This is the first time we’ve ever done a weapons detection system so certainly there will be some pros, cons and some expense.”
Testing from August through December at Union Station entrances to the B and D subway lines, and at the APU/Citrus station on the A Line eastern terminus did not detect any illicit weapons on passengers, reported Robert Gummer, deputy chief for System Security and Law Enforcement at LA Metro.
Security officers’ service weapons were detected with 100% accuracy each time, he reported.
Whether walking through a lane to be scanned or between two pillars with detection equipment embedded, the testing produced 36% false positives, Gummer reported. These included people with laptop computers or other metal devices or equipment.
Anyone flagged by the system was subject to a search by a security officer. A search took 10-15 seconds, Gummer said.
Passengers at Union Station who went through the scanners were selected at random by a pre-set equation involving 1 out of 15 or 1 out of 20 riders, Gummer said. At APU/Citrus station, 100% of the passengers were screened, he said.
“Both riders and employees were very excited we were exploring this technology,” Gummer told the board. “People raised no concerns about privacy nor inconvenience.”
L.A. County Supervisor and board member Hilda Solis heard from a caller who was stopped for carrying scissors in her purse. “She felt like she was being harassed and delayed,” Solis said.
Board member and Pomona Mayor Tim Sandoval wanted the next testing period to root out false positives. For example, what happens when a worker carrying gardening tools or a box cutter boards a train or bus? Does that rider get searched each time?
Gummer said that person would be called over and his belongings searched by a security officer, then allowed to board. “We did have a chef on the system who brought his cutlery,” he said.
Many were opposed to what they viewed as LA Metro turning into a TSA-like system used at airports to screen all passengers, creating long lines.
Alex McElvain, spokesperson for the group ACT-LA, said adding delays, pat-downs and metal screeners can impede new riders from using the system. He said the positive quotes from riders give a one-sided perspective. “You aren’t going to get comments from people you want to get into the system, to the point of raising ridership,” he told the board.
“I don’t want our transit system to become TSA,” said Brenda Jackson, an organizer with the Community Power Collective in Boyle Heights. She wanted the agency to spend more money on more frequent buses, covered bus shelters, better station lighting, working elevators and escalators, and more Metro Transit Ambassadors who help guide people to trains and bus depots.
Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins reported violent crime on the system was down 15.5% over this time last year. In January, ridership increased for the 26th straight month, she said.
The board will receive a report in June on the feasibility of permanent weapon-detection systems, estimated costs and privacy considerations.