Archive for September 1st, 2010

Metro Train Safety

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

31 August 2010 9:05 PM | By Prince Of Petworth in Transit, quality of life


Photo by PoPville flickr user AWard Tour

“Dear PoP,

I keep reading accounts of people being attacked on sparsely populated Metro trains (late at night, on weekends, etc) – it seems like occurrences are becoming more and more frequent as reported on Police Department listservs.

Metro keeps reporting budget crunches, and I’m sure criminals and petty thieves know MetroTrains are easy venues for their activities, since Metro Police can’t be in every car, or even on every train.

Whenever I’m on Metro late at night, I always choose to enter a more populated car, but can we take our protection to the next level by collectively occupying the first or last car of each train – say after 8pm?

You know what they say – safety in numbers! How could we organize such a publicity campaign, or has something like this been attempted in the past?”

That’s why the Guardian Angels ride the metro. From the MPD listserv:

Friday August 28, 2010 aapproximately 8:20 pm Guardian Angels was patrolling
the green line from Annacostia to Gallery Place. When the doors opened up at
the Navy Yard stop, three males approximately 20 years old, were engaging in
a loud, heated argument. The three males began to fight. Guardian Angels
rushed in to stop the fight. The males were very aggressive. The Guardian
Angels had to detain the three males and call Metro Police. When the train
arrived at L’Enfant Plaza Metro Police took one male into custody for simple
assault and disorderly.

Honestly I ride the metro (including the Green line) quite frequently late at night and have never felt uncomfortable. There have been some highly publicized fights (featured on this blog) but I’d say they are still rather rare. I’m not saying I’m a tough guy, maybe I’ve just got lucky, but it’s always been fairly uneventful (perhaps some yelling and music but no fighting).

Anyway, what do you guys think – does riding the metro late at night make you feel uncomfortable?

Would you like to see a campaign to fill the first and last cars for safety or something like that? If so how would you recommend that campaign be launched? In cooperation with WMATA?

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Guardian Angels Detain Three on Green Line Train

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

The Guardian Angels, who have been patrolling Green Line trains since last month’s large brawl, detained three men who were fighting Friday night. According to John Unique Ayala of the Guardian Angels, three men were observed arguing at the Navy Yard station. The argument escalated into a fight onboard the train, at which point a Guardian Angels patrol intervened. The patrol detained three men in their 20s until Metro Transit Police arrived at L’Enfant Plaza Station. Transit Police took one of the men into custody for simple assault and disorderly conduct.

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So Can The Guardian Angels Legally Detain Someone on Metro?

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

In recent weeks, the Guardian Angels — the unarmed, volunteer crime patrollers — have stepped up their patrols on Metro trains. Aside from the rare beating, the Angels are generally a positive force, especially on a sprawling system like Metro, which has plenty nooks and crannies that are really difficult for police to monitor. Angel patrols have been stepped up after several fights on Metro this summer: in the wake of the 70-person brawl that broke out earlier this month, the Angels dedicated themselves to upping patrols around the Gallery Place/Chinatown station. They’ve started riding on Metrobuses more, as well. This is nothing new, of course — the Angels have a sizable presence in D.C. and are often quick to offer up their patented brand of group policing.

2010_0831_guardianangels.jpg
Photo by Matt.Dunn.

The increased presence paid off last Friday, when Angels detained three men after a fight broke out on a Green Line train. But one DCist commenter on that post was curious: is it actually legal for the Guardian Angels to detain someone like that?

According to MPD Lieutenant Damion Taylor of the Seventh District, the Angels are usually in the clear — it’s all about the intent of their actions.

“Generally, we do not encourage untrained and/or non-law enforcement personnel to approach or attempt to restrain violent or potentially otherwise dangerous individuals for obvious reasons,” Lt. Taylor wrote in an email. “However, in the event of some crimes in progress such as an Assault on another person, citizens acting within good faith (e.g. good samaritan observing a domestic assault) and otherwise reasonable means (e.g. immediately contacting police) generally will not be criminally charged by police officers,” he added.

 

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