How RTC will fight violent passengers on your bus route

By Mick Akers

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Passengers attacked each other on local buses more frequently last year, but less assaulted bus drivers than in the past.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada saw mixed results when comparing violent acts on buses in a year-over-year comparison.

Assaults on operators decreased while passenger-on-passenger assaults saw a rise in fiscal year 2017, said Scott Gallegos, manager of security operations for RTC said Thursday at an organization meeting.

The RTC reported 49 incidents of passenger attacking drivers on RTC buses, falling from 53 in 2016. Passenger-on-passenger assaults rose by five to 80 in 2017.

An assault can include incidents that involve a passenger spitting or a physical act toward an operator or passenger. Depending on the severity, it might require law enforcement to be notified.

“To be proactive, we continue special deployments in and around areas of concern based on incident data that includes increased security presence at our bus stops to impact passenger and operator safety,” Gallegos said. “I wish I could pinpoint the exact situations, but unfortunately passenger behavior is very unpredictable.”

In March, RTC entered a renewed agreement with Allied Universal and maintained its $8.4 million security budget.

RTC is incorporating technology to help deal with curbing disruptive and violent behavior on buses. The See Something, Say Something phone app utilized in other states would allow passengers to provide information on suspicious behavior as they observe it.

“This will also provide real-time information during incidents and helps us allocate security resources in a more efficient manner,” Gallegos said.

An improved officer GPS program was also implemented, which is aimed at increasing officer accountability and improving the deployment of an officer when security presence is needed.

Part of the use of technology to improve safety on buses could include allowing law enforcement access to the RTC’s on-bus camera systems.

Metro Police asked RTC about the possibility of them being able to utilize their cameras via Live Trax video system in the event of an emergency.

Multiple cameras that are placed on the inside and outside of each bus allow for a live look at what is occurring at any time.

“If there was an emergency going on, or the driver pushed an alarm button, they can go right to this system and see what’s going on and figure out how to appropriately respond,” said Carl Scarborough, director of transit amenities and technical equipment for RTC.

When an incident occurs, the contractor would provide Metro with a web address, an ID and login so they could assess the situation and figure out if a response by an on-duty officer is needed.

Metro would only have access to the camera system when an incident is reported and will not monitor the system. The contractor would monitor the system on a regular basis.

In March, a man with a gun shot two passengers, one fatally, on a bus on traveling the Strip, leading to an hours-long standoff situation with Metro. The officers had a tough time seeing where the suspect was on the bus because of advertisement wraps.

Having the ability to look inside the bus from various points could have given Metro a better view of the suspect.

After a successful trial run, the plan appears to be on track to be instituted soon.

“We’ve shared this video with the Metropolitan Police Department and it meets their needs,” Scarborough said. “So, we're now finalizing our plan on moving forward.”