SAN FRANCISCO—On Wednesday, August 14, BART announced that they will be receiving a $1.7 million federal grant for increased police presence in order to “focus on safety and security for riders” at most of their major stations.
The funding is being given to BART by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and will pay for additional police patrols on train lines as well as sustain BART’s Critical Asset Patrol (CAP) team for another year.
The CAP team is made up of seven officers and one sergeant. General Manager of BART, Bob Powers, plans on filling an additional 19 positions with the new budget in place.
As of 2019, CAP has made 55 arrests for charges such as cellphone thefts, active warrants, stay away order violations, probation violations, public intoxication and drug use, and other criminal activity.
“These funds are essential to our efforts to boost riders’ sense of security and prevent crime from occurring in our system,” said Powers in a press release.
BART received a grant from FEMA in 2018 for $6.8 million that went towards the sustainability and expansion of CAP, as well as new upgraded cameras and new radio interoperability.
For more details on BART, visit www.bart.gov.
