Metro's violence prevention program marred by subway fight and subcontractor's RICO indictment
In November 2022, two men connected to a Metro safety program beat up another man on a station platform. Video footage, which The Times obtained last week, shows one of the workers squaring off before striking the man while the worker's colleague wearing a black shirt that says 'security' jumps into the fray throwing fists. The man fights back, is pushed down onto the Metro platform, and ends up on the tracks. Still held by one of the pair, he tries to yank away and throws punches until he is let go.
The two "community intervention specialists" — unarmed community members who have experience with at-risk populations and gang intervention — were hired to embed within Metro's 'street teams' to de-escalate and prevent violence. It's unclear who the third man is.
Metro has touted the multimillion-dollar safety program as an integral solution to its fight against crime amid a surge in attacks throughout the rail and bus system, while trust in law enforcement has waned. But the 2022 incident involving the two men and a recent indictment of the co-founder of a community group also affiliated with the community intervention specialist program has raised questions about the oversight of Metro's plan.
In January, Metro expanded its operation and awarded a three-year contract for nearly $25 million to the Lee Andrews Group, a public relations firm, to manage Metro's community intervention specialist program. The firm also manages Metro's street teams — a group the transit agency has described as station greeters who often distribute materials, such as PPE during the pandemic. That program complements Metro's robust transit ambassador teams, who also liaise with the public.
These community-based programs have been proved to combat violence, Metro said, crediting these teams with a "15% reduction in violent crimes per boarding systemwide from 2023 to 2024" and a notable reduction in violence along the K Line.
The Metro board directed the Lee Andrews Group to continue working with community organizations to combat violence by deploying specialists to "hot spots" throughout the system. One of those groups was Developing Options, co-founded by Eugene 'Big U' Henley, who is described as a former gang member who became a community advocate. Henley was indicted in March on federal charges of fraud, robbery, extortion and running a racketeering conspiracy. Allegations against Henley also included fraudulently obtaining funds through a gang reduction and youth development program overseen by the L.A. mayor's office.
Developing Options received nearly $2 million and stopped working with the Metro program March 25, Metro said, 'almost immediately after news surfaced about the organization's leadership.'
A representative for Henley could not be reached for comment.
Another community organization subcontracted by the Lee Andrews Group was Able Solutions — the organization affiliated with the men in the video, Metro confirmed. Since 2022, the organization has received more than $3.2 million for its work with Metro and while the men in the video were removed from the system and are no longer connected with Metro, the transit agency said the organization remains affiliated.
Able Solutions has not responded to requests for comment.
Metro's Customer Experience Cabinet oversees the program, but the transit agency does not vet the groups involved. That task falls to Lee Andrews Group and the community organizations, Metro said. The groups are expected to recruit members who have "lived experience with gangs, trauma or violence," according to the board report.
According to Metro, Able Solutions requires a background check of all individuals through the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services' guard card system and a state Department of Justice Live Scan. The group also conducts a Megan's Law search.
Lee Andrews' vetting process is 'rooted in on-the-ground credibility,' Metro said.
'They consult with local leaders, stakeholders and community coalitions to ensure that every individual representing the project has the necessary relationships, cultural competency and trust to operate effectively and responsibly in sensitive areas.'
Since 2022, Metro said that eight people have been arrested who work as transit ambassadors, street team members and community intervention specialists. The programs have employed a combined total of nearly 800 people.
Metro's top security officer in 2022, Gina Osborn, said her department was not involved in the oversight of the community intervention specialists or street teams and said that she had raised concerns over a lack of oversight.
'If you have a public safety ecosystem and you speak about it publicly, why is the entire ecosystem not under one person? Why is it compartmentalized in such a way where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing?'
Osborn sued Metro last year over an allegation that the transit agency fired her in retaliation for filing a complaint with the Office of the Inspector General following a bus hijacking. The lawsuit described a tense relationship between Osborn and Metro Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins over differing views on how Metro's system should be secured.
Scott Decker, a professor emeritus at Arizona State University who has studied criminology and gang intervention, said that public agencies' collaborations with these these types of community-based programs has helped reduce crime in cities like Chicago. The data isn't "cut or dry" when it comes to assessing whether they work better than law enforcement to prevent violence, Decker said, but "there's not much evidence that shows police are demonstrably better."
Metro on Thursday approved a $9.4-billion budget that included a nearly 2% increase for Metro's public safety budget. The community intervention specialist program is cited as a key priority to the 'multi-layered approach' included under a nearly $400-million bucket.
Osborn had been critical of how outside law enforcement patrolled the bus and rail system and pushed for more in-house security.
Earlier this month, Metro named its chief of the transit agency's new in-house police department that will oversee all of Metro's safety operations. Under a $193-million-a-year plan, sworn officers would work with Metro ambassadors and crisis intervention staffers, as well as community intervention specialists.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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