The Long Beach City Council unanimously voted to increase the contract amount between the Long Beach Police Department and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
The approved motion means LBPD will receive $3,147,962 more than was previously agreed upon when the five-year contract was first made in 2017, to cover the cost of additional police on the train.
The total amount of the contract is not to exceed $33,222,590 and pays for daily policing activities at eight Metro stations in Long Beach for the time period of July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2022.
In the original contract, the amount paid was not to exceed $30,074,628.
Metro agreed to the increased payment in order to add one detective, two Quality of Life Officers, and purchase one vehicle to help police the trains.
LBPD has said the increase in the contract is not expected to be enough, with the projected cost for policing the Metro for the five-year period of time estimated at $36.1 million.
LBPD personnel are currently negotiating a further increase in the contract with Metro, expected to be considered before the end of 2021.
The costs for policing the Metro are budgeted in the City’s General Fund money for the police department, but will be later reimbursed by Metro, as per the contract.
The Long Beach City Council members did not discuss the item before they unanimously voted to increase the contract between LBPD and the Metro.
“Does this seem excessive to anyone else?” said Senay Kenfe, a local business owner, during public comment. “I mean, with respect to the arrests that occur on the Blue Line, it’s disproportional with respect to the entire Metro transit.”
Long Beach police face lawsuits, criticism over policing on Metro
According to an analysis of data by the Long Beach Post, 62% of riders stopped by LBPD for fare evasion on the Metro and Long Beach Transit were Black.
Long Beach Police Department Chief Robert Luna has been added as a defendant in a racial profiling lawsuit along with LBPD and the Metro.
The lawsuit stems from an incident on Valentine’s Day 2017, in which a Black couple who had traveled on a Metro train was stopped for fare evasion by two LBPD officers.
The man was ticketed and the woman was arrested but later released with no charges filed against her.
In April 2020, another lawsuit was filed against LBPD officer Martin Ron, LBPD and the City of Long Beach by Rosa Moreno, the mother of Cesar Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was struck by a Metro train during an altercation with Martin that occurred after Rodriguez had been stopped for fare evasion. He later passed away at a hospital due to his injuries.
Ron was cleared of any wrongdoing by The Justice System Integrity Division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in an Aug. 11, 2020 memorandum published by the Long Beach Post, stating that reasonable force was used.
The next court hearing for Moreno’s case is planned for July 28, 2022.
The Alliance for Community Transit Los Angeles (ACT-LA) compiled a report in response to the death of Rodriguez entitled “Off The Rails. Alternatives to Policing on Transit,” which studied successful community safety programs in other cities that don’t use police on public transportation.
