Crime statistics for Metro rail lines

The Blue Line light rail has had more criminal activity than the other three Metro (MTA) rail lines through August of this year, according to statistics provided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which patrols the trains. Click on the charts to the right to see larger versions of them.

The Blue Line has had the greatest number of aggravated assaults, strong-arm robberies, vehicle burglaries, general burglaries and petty theft this year. The Blue Line runs from Los Angeles to Long Beach and passes through South L.A.,  Florence, Watts, Willowbrook and Rancho Dominguez.

But the Blue Line has been surpassed by other lines in the number of some crimes committed on the transit lines. The Green Line, which runs from Norwalk to Redondo Beach mostly along the 105 Freeway, had more armed robberies than the Blue Line and also more instances of grand theft auto, although the Green Line has four more parking lots than the Blue Line.

One rape each has been reported on the Red Line and the Blue Line. The sexual assault on the Blue Line occurred in February at the Compton station and involved a 16-year-old girl, although the rape did not occur on Metro property.

The reported sexual assault on the Red Line occurred in May, involving a 19-year-old woman on the escalator at the 7th/Metro Center station. But the police were unable to find evidence of an assault on video surveillance and could not contact the victim.

The Gold Line, which runs from Los Angeles to Pasadena, has had the least criminal activity this year, with only 30 reported incidents. The most common crime committed on the Gold Line has been vehicle burglary, with nine incidents so far this year.

--Lauren Williams

Comments

[alex]

Okay M, can I build an rail station less than 50 yards from your house? That's what's going to happend to hundreds of homeowners. Unlike the Green Line Richard Stranger cites, the Expo line as planned has several stations surrounded on all sides by single family homes. Actual station crime will only be a small fraction of the problem. It's the spillover into the homes (especially late at night and on weekends) I'm worried about.

Unfortunatley, people (other than real estate developers) supporting these rail projects incorrectly assume that the Westside will stay pretty much the same after these rail lines are built except that we will have this added "benefit " of rail. Unfortunately, I have been to the community meetings and seen the real estate developers' wish list. They already have millions of square feet of new rental apartments and office space along the Expo Line route planned. Please realize that all of those one-story buildings we now see along Olympic and Pico Boulevards (goodbye Childrern's Book World) and at every major intersection (Goodbye Taco Por Favor) along the route are going to be replaced by at least an 8-story building. And realize that every EIR will say that these massive developments are justified because even though traffic will get way worse (The Department of Transportation has already notified Expo of this) people will supposedly now have the "alternative" of rail. Which, of course will be the justification for building more rail lines and thus building even more developments.

[M.]

alex, you're hyperventilating! Breath into a paper bag.
Yeah, I can see a burglar stealing a TV and using light rail for a getaway - NOT!
These statistics are definitely misleading - I've ridden the crowded Blue line for 18 years and have yet to see a crime committed. These crimes are spread over a huge number of trips.
If you're that paranoid, don't park your car at an MTA station lot. Better yet, take a bus to get there.

[alex]

Los Angeles has a fraction of the police officers of other U.S. cities whether caluclated per the population or per the square mile. But no one ever states how our police manage this feat. It's because of the ridiculously low crime rate in West LA. Single family homeowners don't commit crimes . In fact according to a West LA officer, 83% of the crime that does occur in West LA is commited by people who live in other parts of the city. Go over to the West LA station one day and watch the shift change . This small band of officers covers all the way from the west end of Mullhulland Drive down to the intersection of La Cienga and National. More importantly, almost all the crime is property related. Theft and burglaries of homes and cars, usually that have inadvertantly left a window or door open making them a target. There is never any violence. For example, recently West LA had a "crime wave" when one guy was breaking into the homes of senior citizens and forcing them to give up their valuables. I don't believe anyone was seriously harmed. Residents were up in arms. Community meetings were called. Neighborhood watches were established. Robbery homicide was brought in and trailed a suspect day and night and finally caught him in the act. This relatively minor criminal brought that much attention. That's how little crime West LA now has. That is all going to change once these rail line are running day and night.

[Richard Stanger]

Several years ago, UCLA published a paper evaluating the level of crime in the Green Line station areas before and after the opening of that line. In every case - including the El Segundo and Redondo Station areas - crime levels dropped with the introduction of the rail line because there were more people around and more police presence than before. (Crimes related to cars in Green Line parking lots might have been the exception.) My personal experience with the Blue Line in the 1990's was the same. The Westside is not a crime-free area, and I expect the common sense experience documented for the Green Line will be the same when Expo opens.

[Antonio Pacheco]

reporting statistics like this is so incredibly dangerous and irresponsible in regards to the future of the city. The second someone begins talking about crime on public transportation, people are quick to go up in arms about how dangerous public transportation and add "crime" to their laundry list of reasons against public transportation expansion.
While I believe that the public is entitled to know what sort of crimes happen where, I feel that reporting crime specifically for public transportation systems is not only misleading, but not entirely necessary. The media doesn't make as big a deal about automobile-related crime in quite the same way they do about crimes on the metro. It's an unfair bias that carries the potential of shooting the city in the foot because this sort of reporting perpetuates fear among the populace, making them not only less likely to ride the metro themselves, but, more importantly, it makes them less likely to support expansion of the system in any meaningful way.

antonio pacheco

[Spokker]

"And people wonder why homeowners are against adding rail to the currently low crime Westside."

One incident every 1-2 days. That's a lot of crime, man!

[alex]

So, if there is rail added to the Westside there will also be al ot more crime. I am unaware of any budget that has funding for more transit police to go along with these projected new rail projects. And people wonder why homeowners are against adding rail to the currently low crime Westside.

[rallenr]

Is avoiding payment of fares not a crime? Where's that stat?