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LAPD reports 20% drop in part 1 crime on Metro system; committee notes and files transit report
Summary
Commander Natalie Cortez told the Public Safety Committee the LAPD's transit services group saw a 20% reduction in part 1 crime on the Los Angeles Metro system in a recent year, credited in part to a multilayer approach including ambassadors and Metro security. The committee noted and filed the report.
The Los Angeles City Council Public Safety Committee on Wednesday noted and filed a Board of Police Commissioners report on crime statistics for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority system.
Commander Natalie Cortez, commanding officer of LAPD's transit services group, told the committee that in the most recent year the department recorded a 20% reduction in part 1 crime on the Metro system compared with 2023. "Last year was a record banner year for us," Cortez said, citing a decline in robberies and property crimes and an increase in ridership of about 6.7 percent.
Cortez described a multilayered approach with Metro, including a contract in modification 9 that reimburses LAPD for transit assignments. She said the annual reimbursable amount is approximately $115,000,000 and noted the contract supports 110 full-time sworn positions and 92 overtime positions covering rail platforms and bus lines inside the city. Cortez provided several operational figures: 69 weapons arrests with 50 guns recovered in the cited period; roughly 68,000 documented contacts with MTA employees and ambassadors; 13,490 calls for service; 54 Narcan deployments; and 753,000 Tap Card inspections earlier in the contract period.
Cortez advocated engagement-focused patrols and described the ambassador program's role in customer service and de-escalation, saying ambassadors and Metro "work together to collectively educate and keep the system safer." She also said changes to fare enforcement removed active fare-device checks by LAPD under a board request and that the current contract ends with a one-year extension expiring June 30, 2026.
Committee members praised the drop in several crime categories, asked for updated data beyond the October 2024 report, and discussed perimeter safety around stations and interagency coordination. The committee voted to note and file the report.
