KCAL Investigates: Violent crime on Metro up 33% compared to pre-pandemic levels

After a Metro board member said she was too afraid to ride the system alone, new Board chair Janice Hahn climbed aboard to see the state of the public transportation that her father, Kenny Hahn, helped build.

An analysis of the last 12 months of Metro's available data shows that violent crime across the entire system has increased by nearly 33%, a majority of which happened on trains. During the last six months, there was one violent crime for every 55,000 riders compared to on buses, where it hits one out of every 300,000 riders. 

In its stats for May, Metro saw a five-year high in violent crime: 206 incidents, up from 164 last May. 

"That's so disturbing," Hahn, a Los Angeles County Supervisor, said. "I want to see what's going on for myself."

Hahn, who represents the county's Fourth District, rode on the same bus line where a person was stabbed just a few weeks before.

"It was horrifying," Hahn said. "I have a real problem that we can't figure out how to address keeping weapons off our system." 

On the system, in early July, a bus had to be evacuated after a man was found sleeping with a gun allegedly hanging out of his waistband. An analysis of the Metro's data showed that reports of weapons have increased nearly three times compared to pre-pandemic levels.

"I'd like to see us figure out some way to keep people from bringing weapons on our system," Hahn said. "I think we need to address that."

In addition to protecting riders, Metro has also been looking into keeping drivers safe after 160 assaults in 2023 and 61 so far in 2024. During a spike in April 2024, three drivers were attacked in less than a week. Many drivers said they had been promised barriers for years but only recently received them. 

"Whatever the reason for the holdup, it's unacceptable," Hahn said. "It's rolling out; they said they will all be installed by the end of the year."

While some buses have barriers, a visible police presence, as promised by Mayor and former Metro Chair Karen Bass weeks ago, was missing for both drivers and passengers. 

"I directed an immediate surge, an increase in patrols, increased visibility," she said. 

Hahn said she wants to see uniformed law enforcement regularly going through Metro buses and trains.

Sheriff Robert Luna's deputies patrol 900 square miles of bus lines and 90 miles of rail covering 95 cities across LA County. He said increasing visibility is a priority of his. 

"There are times that they jump on a bus," Luna said. "But to cover buses, because of the vast area, geographical area we cover, they're in cars to get there as quickly as possible when things are occurring," 

During one week in June, out of 16,752 GPS-validated snapshots or locations captured, deputies boarded buses 659 times and took bus rides 39 times, according to data from the Sheriff's Department.

Luna defended his department by saying they have been doing better since surging their staff. They've raised their activity from around 14,000 snapshots in April to more than 16,000 in May, cutting the crime surge by nearly 66%.

"Since we surged our staffing, the crime stats are dropping," Luna said. 

Buses are also statistically safer than Metro trains. In the last six months, the Red Line's violent crime rate per rider has been six times higher than the entire bus system's rate. 

"That's unacceptable," Hahn said. "I would have hoped we'd seen some law enforcement ... Where are they?"

The Los Angeles Police Department patrols the area. Officers and Metro ambassadors were visible throughout the day patrolling the MacArthur Park station routinely.

"It feels really clean and safe," Hahn said. "I feel like we've had a transformation here at MacArthur Park."

After her tour of the transportation system, Hahn said she now understands what is needed to help law enforcement. 

"I'm going to do everything I can to make sure this very bus will be safe in the future," she said. 

Luna said the department's data shows that 94% of crime suspects don't pay fares and ride illegally. Both Hahn and Luna hope to enforce tickets better. 

Metro is also developing its police force. However, it is still five years away.