Metro Transit Police Department
Encyclopedia
The Metro Transit Police Department (MTPD) is the police agency serving the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. It was created by the WMATA Compact on June 4, 1976.
The Metro Transit Police Department is unique in American law enforcement. It is the only police agency that has local police authority in three different jurisdictions (Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia). The department has an authorized strength of 420 sworn officers
, 106 security special police, and 24 civilian personnel. New officers complete twenty-three weeks of initial training at the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy
and then complete fifteen additional weeks of training at the Metro Transit Police Academy.
The Metro Transit Police is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
.
Transit Police officers patrol the Metrorail
system and Metrobuses
on foot and on bicycles, and using motorcycles and marked and unmarked police car
s. Transit Police Detectives provide investigative support. Transit Police officers have jurisdiction and arrest
powers throughout the 1500 square miles (3,885 km²) Metro service area for crimes that occur on Transit Authority facilities, or within 150 feet (45.7 m) of a Metrobus stop.
Transit Police are actively involved in protecting Metro passengers and infrastructure from terrorist threats. After the September 11, 2001 attacks
and the London subway bombings
, and periodically since, members of the Metro Transit Police Special Response Team conduct security sweeps of the rail system while armed with special weapons systems, H&K MP5 submachine guns and supported by explosive ordinance detection K-9
teams. Additionally, the department has a dedicated explosive disposal team
.
ed, searched
, and handcuffed for refusing to stop eating french fries
while in the Tenleytown-AU
Metro station. She was taken to a police juvenile processing area where she was booked
, fingerprinted, and detained until her mother arrived to pick her up. At the time of the incident, the Officer had no legal authority to take any formal action against a juvenile other than make an arrest
. This policy has since been changed and Transit Police Officers may now issue written warnings to juvenile offenders. Another widely noted case occurred on July 16, 2004, when an EPA
employee was entering the Metro Center
station. Before passing through the faregates she was told to finish eating before entering the paid area of the station by a Police Officer. Instead, she popped the last bite of a PayDay
candy bar
into her mouth, continuing to chew the candy bar while in the station. She was subsequently arrested by the Metro Transit Police Officer after refusing to cooperate with the issuance of a citation for the offense.
While sometimes seen as excessive, Metro's zero-tolerance policy when it comes to crime, including eating, drinking, littering, and other forms of disorder, embodies the broken windows
philosophy of crime reduction. According to criminal justice author Nancy G. La Vigne, Metro's attempts to reduce crime, combined with how the station environments were designed with crime prevention
in mind, has contributed to the fact that Washington Metro is regarded to be among the safest and cleanest subway systems in the United States.
This philosophy also extends to use of station restroom facilities. Metro's long-standing policy restricts use of restrooms to only employees in order to prevent undesirable activity such as graffiti, though station managers could make exceptions at their discretion, such as for customers with small children, the elderly or disabled, etc. In 2003, Metro added a self-cleaning portable restroom for public use at the Huntington
station.
In 2003, a publicly posted policy change at each station indicated that, except at the three stations which do not have accessible restrooms (which will only be for use of Transit Authority personnel), passengers who request use of the restrooms will be permitted to do so, subject to the station manager being able to escort them to the restroom. The station manager does not have to wait for them to finish using the restroom, but is permitted to allow them to find their way out of the area where the restroom is located.
In spite of the "broken windows" philosophy, there was an increase in serious crime in 2010; for example, according to Metro statistics, there were 7 sexual assault
s and 136 aggravated assaults reported in 2010, compared with 1 sexual assault and 91 aggravated assaults in 2009.
, while investigating a stolen vehicle parked at a Metro facility near the Landover
station on December 20, 1993. Officer Marlon Morales was shot in the District of Columbia by a fare evasion suspect at the U Street Metro station on June 10, 2001. Morales succumbed to his wounds and died on June 13, 2001. The suspects in both murders were identified, captured, tried, convicted. Morales' killer was sentenced to life in prison
without the possibility of parole
.
The Metro Transit Police Department is unique in American law enforcement. It is the only police agency that has local police authority in three different jurisdictions (Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia). The department has an authorized strength of 420 sworn officers
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
, 106 security special police, and 24 civilian personnel. New officers complete twenty-three weeks of initial training at the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy
Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy
The Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy is a law enforcement training facility located in Ashburn, Virginia. It serves seventeen agencies in Virginia and Washington, D.C., and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies...
and then complete fifteen additional weeks of training at the Metro Transit Police Academy.
The Metro Transit Police is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., is a credentialing authority , based in the United States, whose primary mission is to accredited public safety agencies, namely law enforcement agencies, training academies, communications centers, and campus public safety...
.
Patrols
Uniformed and plainclothesUndercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
Transit Police officers patrol the Metrorail
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
system and Metrobuses
Metrobus (Washington, D.C.)
Metrobus is a bus service operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Its fleet consists of 1,480 buses covering an area of in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. There are over 300 bus routes serving 12,216 stops, including 2,398 bus shelters. In fiscal year 2009,...
on foot and on bicycles, and using motorcycles and marked and unmarked police car
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
s. Transit Police Detectives provide investigative support. Transit Police officers have jurisdiction and arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
powers throughout the 1500 square miles (3,885 km²) Metro service area for crimes that occur on Transit Authority facilities, or within 150 feet (45.7 m) of a Metrobus stop.
Transit Police are actively involved in protecting Metro passengers and infrastructure from terrorist threats. After the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
and the London subway bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, and periodically since, members of the Metro Transit Police Special Response Team conduct security sweeps of the rail system while armed with special weapons systems, H&K MP5 submachine guns and supported by explosive ordinance detection K-9
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
teams. Additionally, the department has a dedicated explosive disposal team
Bomb disposal
Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
.
Impact of policing in a transit environment
Local ordinances strictly forbid riders from eating or drinking while on a Metrorail train or in a station. Officers are required to take police action when they observe any criminal activity, but arrests for these minor violations are rare. One exception was on October 23, 2000, when a 12-year old girl was arrestArrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
ed, searched
Search and seizure
Search and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime.Some countries have...
, and handcuffed for refusing to stop eating french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
while in the Tenleytown-AU
Tenleytown-AU (Washington Metro)
Tenleytown-AU is a rapid transit station on the Red Line of the Washington Metro in Washington, D.C. Located in the Upper Northwest neighborhood, it is the last station on the Red Line heading outbound wholly within the District of Columbia; the next stop, Friendship Heights, lies within the...
Metro station. She was taken to a police juvenile processing area where she was booked
Mug shot
A mug shot, mugshot or booking photograph, is a photographic portrait taken after one is arrested. The purpose of the mug shot is to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of the arrested individual to allow for identification by victims and investigators. Most mug shots are two-part,...
, fingerprinted, and detained until her mother arrived to pick her up. At the time of the incident, the Officer had no legal authority to take any formal action against a juvenile other than make an arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
. This policy has since been changed and Transit Police Officers may now issue written warnings to juvenile offenders. Another widely noted case occurred on July 16, 2004, when an EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
employee was entering the Metro Center
Metro Center (Washington Metro)
Metro Center is the central hub station of the Washington Metro rapid transit system in Washington, D.C. Metro Center was one of the original Metro stations, and has been in service since March 27, 1976....
station. Before passing through the faregates she was told to finish eating before entering the paid area of the station by a Police Officer. Instead, she popped the last bite of a PayDay
PayDay (confection)
PayDay is a candy bar consisting of salted peanuts around a center of caramel, currently produced by The Hershey Company.-History:PayDay was first introduced in 1932 by Frank Martoccio. Martoccio founded the F.A. Martoccio Macaroni Company, and also later served as head of the Hollywood Candy...
candy bar
Candy bar
A chocolate bar is a confection in bar form comprising some or all of the following components: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, milk. The relative presence or absence of these components form the subclasses of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. In addition to these main...
into her mouth, continuing to chew the candy bar while in the station. She was subsequently arrested by the Metro Transit Police Officer after refusing to cooperate with the issuance of a citation for the offense.
While sometimes seen as excessive, Metro's zero-tolerance policy when it comes to crime, including eating, drinking, littering, and other forms of disorder, embodies the broken windows
Fixing Broken Windows
The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior...
philosophy of crime reduction. According to criminal justice author Nancy G. La Vigne, Metro's attempts to reduce crime, combined with how the station environments were designed with crime prevention
Crime prevention through environmental design
Crime prevention through environmental design is a multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. CPTED strategies rely upon the ability to influence offender decisions that precede criminal acts...
in mind, has contributed to the fact that Washington Metro is regarded to be among the safest and cleanest subway systems in the United States.
This philosophy also extends to use of station restroom facilities. Metro's long-standing policy restricts use of restrooms to only employees in order to prevent undesirable activity such as graffiti, though station managers could make exceptions at their discretion, such as for customers with small children, the elderly or disabled, etc. In 2003, Metro added a self-cleaning portable restroom for public use at the Huntington
Huntington (Washington Metro)
Huntington is an island platformed Washington Metro station in the unincorporated area of Huntington, Virginia, United States. The station was opened on December 17, 1983, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...
station.
In 2003, a publicly posted policy change at each station indicated that, except at the three stations which do not have accessible restrooms (which will only be for use of Transit Authority personnel), passengers who request use of the restrooms will be permitted to do so, subject to the station manager being able to escort them to the restroom. The station manager does not have to wait for them to finish using the restroom, but is permitted to allow them to find their way out of the area where the restroom is located.
In spite of the "broken windows" philosophy, there was an increase in serious crime in 2010; for example, according to Metro statistics, there were 7 sexual assault
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
s and 136 aggravated assaults reported in 2010, compared with 1 sexual assault and 91 aggravated assaults in 2009.
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Metro Transit Police Department, two officers have been killed in the line of duty. Officer Harry Davis, Jr. was shot and killed in Landover, MarylandLandover, Maryland
Landover is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, within the census-designated place of Greater Landover. The Prince Georges County Sports and Learning Complex is in Landover...
, while investigating a stolen vehicle parked at a Metro facility near the Landover
Landover (Washington Metro)
Landover is an island platformed Washington Metro station in Landover, Maryland, United States. The station was opened on November 20, 1978, and is operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority . Providing service for the Orange Line, the station is in a residential area of...
station on December 20, 1993. Officer Marlon Morales was shot in the District of Columbia by a fare evasion suspect at the U Street Metro station on June 10, 2001. Morales succumbed to his wounds and died on June 13, 2001. The suspects in both murders were identified, captured, tried, convicted. Morales' killer was sentenced to life in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
without the possibility of parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
.
See also
- List of law enforcement agencies in the District of Columbia
- Transit policeTransit policeTransit police are a specialized police agency or unit employed by a common carrier, which could be a transit district, railroad, bus line, other transport carrier, or the state...
External links
- http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/transit_police/ Official site