I understand Mr Parks concern for his personal safety and it is
sometimes warranted. Again I ask Muni operators to take a lead in
pressuring the Police dept to patrol lines they deem unsafe. While the
public also has the responsibility to demand that of the Police for
thier own safety. Some of the worst juvenile crime I have witnessed
occured on the Metro on the JKM lines not in the Mission. While Willie
Brown and the City claim that crime is down (and that might be) that
doesn't mean that they can relax their focus on crime. One reason that
the the DC Metro is so safe in a city known for murder and violent crime
is that the Police take no crap on the Metro. No eating, no radios, no
loitering, etc etc and they mean it. Cracking down on nuisance crimes
has the effect of deflecting more violent crimes.
In conjunction with pressuring Muni management and its union and
employees we must also place considerable pressure on the Police dept.
to serve and protect the riding public. Again, a single act of violence
or disturbance has the potential to affect 100 people or more at one
time! We are trapped in a Muni vehicle and don't have the choice of
walking away, neither does the operator. A token presence on Muni buses
is not enough. Quick response to Muni problems is imperative. Quick
response to nuisance problems and enforcement of nuisance rules is also
imperative as it has the effect mentioned above. SFPD may have reduced
crime but the job is not done as witnessed by the fears of riders and
operators.
I ask Muni operators to pressure the Police on their own behalf and ask
their union to do so with as much vigor as they use to defend their
employees work rules. Muni management must also be castigated for not
having addressed this issue to our satisfaction. After all imagine how
all the money Muni has squandered in bad management could've been used
to make Muni safer.
I do feel that it is time to consider the possibilty of suing Muni and
its management for grossly mishandling public funds and to force them to
immediately address security and operation issues that continue to make
SF a hellish place to try to get around in. Just as the LA MTA was sued
to provide better service to the bus riding public and to redirect their
funds in order to do so, Muni should be sued in the same way. If the
City will not hold Muni accountable maybe we should.
Again I understand Mr Parks security concerns and I do ask the operators
of Muni to increase their own efforts and those of their union to try to
make security better. Maybe pressure from RescueMuni and the Muni unions
and the press will be enough to make SFPD take Muni security very
seriously.
Bryan Ceja