 the offical newsletter of DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT - Spring 2008 |
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eelam@DART.org
Keeping Watch...
In the predawn hours as the region yawns and stretches to life, DART buses and trains roll out to carry some 225,000 passengers to their daily appointments and destinations. Watching over it all - and never resting - is the DART Police Department.
Deployed in cars, on motorcycles and bicycles, and on foot, DART Police patrol 45 miles of light rail, 35 miles of commuter rail, some 120 bus routes, and almost 80 miles of HOV lanes. DART's 700-square-mile service area is one of the largest and busiest "communities" in North Texas - second only to the regional jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
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Gearing up for growth
DART Police are dedicated to keeping the fast-growing transit system one of the safest in the country, and they're already gearing up for the fall 2009 grand opening of the new Green Line. DART currently has 170 sworn officers and 57 non-sworn fare enforcement officers, dispatchers and administrative staff. Their ranks are set to swell to 270, with the hiring and training of 30 more officers and 13 non-sworn personnel through September.
"That will put us on par with the police departments in Richardson, Plano and other suburbs," says DART Police Chief James Spiller, explaining that a large, flexible police department is needed for DART's "open" rail system. Without the fences and turnstiles of closed systems, DART's user-friendly trains promote ridership, but require police and fare enforcement officers to move through the system, checking passes and providing security.
"The myth when the department was formed in 1989 was that we were here only to be 'ambassadors,' but now we're doing more policing," says Spiller. "When you take into consideration the crime rates in the communities we serve, we need to have sworn officers on the system with arrest authority."
"Our vision is to be the premier transit agency for safety and security."
DART Police Chief James Spiller
Along with beefing up personnel, DART Police are now expanding undercover patrols and installing surveillance cameras at key locations. Three police dogs provided by the Transportation Safety Administration joined the force in summer 2007. The dogs and their DART handlers trained at the military police dog training center in San Antonio, and in October one of the new K-9 teams helped resolve a potential incident on a downtown bus.
"Our vision is to be the premier transit agency for safety and security," says Spiller. "Our fare evasion rates are better or comparable to New York and Washington, D.C., and they have closed systems. Our goal is no more than 2.75% fare evasion and we've consistently been below that. It's not an industry standard; we’re being proactive."
Familiarity creates community
DART Police Sgt. Richard Tear says his entire career has been geared toward crime prevention and community service, and most days he's engaged in plenty of both.
Tear's mustached smile and sharp eyes are familiar to transit customers at rail stations up and down the Red and Blue lines. He's also no stranger to students and their parents at neighborhood schools, or to DART Employee Pass holders at businesses where he often speaks.
"As a whole, people are happy to see us. We've worked hard to have a positive impact in our member cities," says Tear. "We're getting better known as we get bigger, and the chief is putting us out there even more."
He's referring to a new patrol "beat" system patterned after a program started by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and used in cities around the world, including London. "It creates performance goals. Officers take ownership - it gets ownership down to the lowest level possible," says Chief Spiller. "And from our rider's perspective, it creates a feeling of community and security."
Encouraging responsible behavior
One of the biggest challenges faced by DART Police is not crime but behavior. As in many urban areas with transit systems, young people have taken to DART as a convenient way to get to school and other activities. DART Police and the Transit Education Department work together to make sure youthful exuberance doesn’t bother other passengers.
"They're just kids doing what kids do, but we've taken steps to make sure young people behave appropriately like young adults when they’re on our system," says Tear.
DART Police meet regularly with city and school district police departments to coordinate strategies to handle youth gatherings, and they pay special attention to transit facilities with large student ridership. In cooperation with DART's Transit Education Program, meetings are held with school administrators, parent groups and students to address behavior and safety concerns. That includes handing out DART's Respect Your Ride brochure - a user-friendly guide to DART's official Code of Conduct - at every Transit Education presentation from elementary through high school.
"The DART Police bring an added and welcomed dimension to our ongoing education programs aimed at growing transit riders and making sure they understand their responsibilities," says Jessica Lennon, DART's supervisor of Educational Outreach.
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