This is a continuing issue as well on the Parkway and until public leadership realizes it can only be accomplished with steadily visible law enforcement presence, the problems will continue driving users away from the public space they have a right of expectation to be generally safe while using.
Adequate public safety needs to be part of the cost of doing the public’s business whether it is transportation, education, or recreation.
RT seeks input on how to keep troublemakers off light rail
By Tony Bizjak - tbizjak@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, April 17, 2008
Somebody behaves badly on light rail. The offender is kicked off, maybe even booked into county jail.
But hours later the troublesome rider can be back on board.
That revolving-door reality has frustrated Sacramento Regional Transit officials and riders for years.
Transit officials say they want the authority to crack down on bad actors and keep them off trains for months at a time.
They've learned, however, that getting tough is not easy.
State legislators have balked at RT's proposed law, Senate Bill 1561, that would grant transit agencies power to ban people for up to a year.
Instead, after negotiations, the agency says it will take a step back and convene a community task force to discuss the ban idea and other ways to deal with people who won't follow rules.
Encouraged by the bill's author, state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, RT said it will pull together local mental health officials, homeless representatives and law enforcement officials.
