The Long Beach Police Department has been awarded a $30.1-million contract over a five-year period to provide law-enforcement services for the eight station platforms of the Blue Line that are in the City’s jurisdiction.
“Long Beach will now be able to control its own public safety destiny on the Blue Line and our eight stations,” said Mayor Robert Garcia. “Over the next year we will make the Blue Line safer and hire approximately 30 new police personnel to assist in this important effort.”
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Board approved a new multi-agency law-enforcement contract to improve safety and security on Los Angeles County’s Metro bus and rail system. Garcia, who officially joined the Metro board of directors on Jan. 27 made the motion that passed unanimously.
“We are very happy with the MTA Board’s decision to allow LBPD to be a part of the multi-agency security plan,” said Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. “We have a strong and unique knowledge of our community and believe that this is the best option for serving the needs of our city. Through this contract, we will be able to reduce response time to calls for service, increase law-enforcement visibility and deter crime in and around this important transportation corridor. We are very grateful for this opportunity and appreciate the support we have received from our city and community leaders. We thank Sheriff McDonnell and the LASD for the service they have provided to our community, and we look forward to working in partnership with them in the future.”
The proposal will include a field team and an administration team of approximately 30 employees. Approximately one-third of the Blue Line runs through Long Beach.
The multi-agency contract will take effect July 1.
Source: City of LB
