Police Riding Rails To Discuss DART Safety
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Officers from the Dallas Police Department and Dallas Area Rapid Transit are teaming up on Friday for a unique show of force. They are boarding multiple trains in hopes of reaching riders in a new way.
With some 100,000 daily DART riders, crimes do happen on the trains and at the stations. For example, a woman was stabbed in January as she exited a train in downtown Dallas. And then, just a week later, a North Texas man started an online petition after his daughter was attacked and robbed on a train.
Crime is actually down across the DART system, with just 96 robberies and 23 aggravated assaults on the rail lines last year. DART officials have said that the system is as safe as any big city across the country.
But in an effort to further deter crime, riders have been calling for increased security and greater police presence on the trains.
Commuters will get some rare face time with police officials on Friday when authorities travel from six different DART stations. This is an opportunity for the DART riders to receive safety tips, express concerns and even make suggestions about how to improve DART security.
Deputy Chief Gary Tittle with the Dallas Police Department explained, "Just some good feedback on how confident and comfortable they feel with DPD, what they think about the commute and how safe they feel."
"A lot of our officers have never ridden the train before, so they're learning, as a part of the community, what people are doing," added Shawn Williams with the Dallas Police Department.
The iniative began at 7:20 a.m. on Friday. More than 90 police officers, including six chiefs, will be on board the trains. If you do not need to travel, but still want to talk to someone, there will also be officers on the platform at the West End Station.
