Two frightening attacks in and around BART in San Francisco have rekindled long-simmering concerns about public safety on the regional transit system and the effectiveness of recent measures it has taken to crack down on crime.
BART statistics indicate that crime rates that rose over the last decade and spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic have been improving this year. But on Nov. 2, a man attacked a 54-year-old woman from behind, slashing her neck, face and mouth as their BART train approached San Francisco’s 24th Street/Mission station. A man with a lengthy criminal record was arrested the next day at Oakland’s Fruitvale station and charged with attempted murder.
And on Wednesday, a man died of an apparent stabbing outside San Francisco’s Embarcadero BART station on Market Street. It was unclear where that deadly encounter originated. But later that day, the Bay Area Council, a business-sponsored, public-policy advocacy group, and a coalition of Asian American-Pacific Islander groups demanded that Gov. Gavin Newsom deploy state troopers “across the BART system to address pervasive violence on trains and in stations.”
Police entered the Embarcadero Station on Market Street to look for a suspect in a stabbing death that occurred outside the San Francisco BART station on Wednesday, Nov.13, 2024. (Frame from video/ AIO Filmz)
“There must be zero tolerance for crime on BART,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council.
“We need to take strong, decisive and immediate action that violent and other crime will not be tolerated on BART, particularly crime targeting Asian Americans, women, seniors and other vulnerable communities,” Wunderman said. “We know large numbers of riders are staying away from BART largely because of deep concerns about the lack of safety and security they feel on trains and in stations. With bold and immediate action, Governor Newsom can help restore public confidence in the BART system and help bring back riders.”
Alicia Trost, BART’s chief communications officer, said Wednesday’s stabbing did not take place at BART and that San Francisco police have given no indication that the victim had any connection to BART, but the transit agency would welcome the strategic deployment of the California Highway Patrol in the areas around stations.
“Overall crime rate is down 12% from the same time last year, and violent crime is down 6%,” Trost said. “Violent crime at BART is very rare, and BART PD’s commitment to holding people accountable for violent behavior is demonstrated by the swift arrests that were made in both incidents cited in the letter.”
Recruiting officers remains challenging for the entire region, Trost said. BART has hired 39 officers for its police department so far this year, reducing the officer vacancy from 29 in January to 18 today.
“Perhaps the most impactful thing that can be done to increase safety presence at BART is the Bay Area Council’s commitment to run a marketing campaign to recruit more police officers, ambassadors, and crisis intervention specialists,” Trost said.
The Bay Area Council said polling it conducted last year found riders avoid BART over crime and safety concerns and that they support having more police patrolling trains and stations.
On Thursday, it was clear those concerns remain. Andre Jones, 35, a lifelong Oakland resident, said he’s ridden BART “all my life.” He feels that law enforcement has become “more ‘lax” in the past few years but that the recent arrest of the stabbing suspect was sensationalized.
Carol Novak, 82, who has lived in Oakland for the past three years after living in New York City, said she feels like a “potential target” and would appreciate a larger police presence.
“I come from New York, and in New York, there are police officers in the stations and periodically riding the trains,” Novak said. “That doesn’t eliminate all of the crime, but it does give one a feeling of greater confidence.”
BART Police Department data from 2013 to 2024 show an overall increase in crime rates over that period, with significant spikes in recent years. Total crime rates show a steady upward trend over the decade, rising sharply in 2023. The data through September 2024 indicates a slight drop, suggesting some improvement, though crime levels remain elevated compared to early-decade figures.
Property crime has been the largest contributor to the increase in total crime rates. Beginning at 27 incidents per million rides in 2013, property crime rates gradually grew, spiking significantly from 29 incidents in 2018 to a peak of 63 incidents in 2023. As of September 2024, property crime stands at 52 incidents per million rides, marking a slight decline but still considerably higher than in previous years.
Violent crime rates, though lower in number, have also shifted. Starting at just two such crimes per million rides in 2013, violent crime remained low through 2017 but then rose sharply, reaching 11 reports in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced ridership. Since then, violent crime has decreased slightly, with seven reports per million rides through September 2024. However, that level is still higher than a decade ago.
Dakota Robinson, a 30-year-old San Francisco PhD student who’s ridden BART for six years, said she felt generally safe using BART and believed the recent violent incidents were not indicative of a deeper problem with the transit system.
“I don’t think adding additional policing is ever going to be the solution to public safety,” Robinson said. “I don’t feel safer when there are more police, and I think that’s true for a lot of people.”
But Oakland resident Kenny Lindsey, 57, who’s ridden BART for the past 10 years, said he feels the public safety issues reflect a wider societal problem.
“When I was growing up as a child, everybody looked out for each other,” Lindsey said. “Now, people have their heads down, they’re on their phones, and they don’t want to get involved. There’s safety in numbers.”
Bay Area News Group reporter Chase Hunter contributed to this report.