Metro Transit taking health-centered approach to Green Line safety

CBS News

6 days ago

Metro Transit is teaming up with law enforcement and social service providers in the Twin Cities to improve the experience of Green Line riders, as well as help riders in need.
It's part of an ongoing effort to make the Green Line on St. Paul's University Avenue safer after incidents of violent crime and drug use over the years.
Metro Transit Police will work with seven city of St. Paul and Ramsey County agencies, including St. Paul Police Department, Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, health services and the county attorney.
The collaboration takes a health-centered approach to public safety.
"Everybody has been doing this work separately," said Metro Transit Interim Police Chief Joe Dotseth. "This effort brings us all together in a much more organized approach."
Metro Transit's Homeless Action Team has utilized similar partnerships and outreach strategies for years.
"We're out there trying to help those that are utilizing shelter on our system, trying to get them into shelter, into treatment," said Metro Transit Officer Kat Kompelien.
Kompelien and the rest of her team, which includes other police officers and mental health specialists, ride the trains to meet people who need the help where they are.
Kompelien says the HAT has moved more than 550 people into housing since 2018.
"People who are causing a disturbance, there's law enforcement there but there's also an opportunity for us to get to the root causes of what's occurring," said Gloria Reyes, Ramsey County's deputy manager of safety and justice.
Dotseth says riders can expect to see more officers this summer as part of a new Hamline-Midway police beat, but the interagency collaboration is an acknowledgement that cops aren't the only answer.
"We need to figure out ways to actually change the behavior, and we have limitations about who can be jailed, who can be incarcerated," said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.
Dotseth says the frequency of serious crime on trains and buses is "relatively low" and hasn't changed.
The number of riders per day has stayed more or less steady in the last year.