Wednesday, November 14, 2007

I SHAKE MY HEAD! by a Trimet Fare inspector

Was talking with one of our ####### last night
and he informed me that the same kid that beat the 71
year old man was also involved in a conveinence store
hold up just a week earlier. He also used a bat in
this hold up.

It is hard to increase security on our system when we
keep losing officers. Right now we are down 14
officers. Many got pulled back by their jurisdictions
because they are short handed. We lost several that
were Multnomah County Sheriffs. The city of Portland
offered them a much better deal and they all took it.
Most of the time when we do a mission and have Transit
Police with us it is because they are working over
time.
 
The company needs to hire more Fare Inspectors. There
are only 18 of us and it looks like we will be losing
2 very soon. 4 Inspectors are off every day and that
has to cover from 5:00AM to 11:00PM, Eastside,
Westside, North and two bus shifts. You do the math.
The company refuses to fill our shifts and we are
allowed three off per day.
 
The Wackenhut people are security only and cannot get
involved or have authority to get involved. This would
be a violation of the contract with the Inspectors.
All they can do is observe and report. By the time the
authorities get there the bad guys are long gone. Just
to let you know there are 3 times as many Wackenhuts
as Fare Inspectors. Wackenhut has taken over up on
C-Tran. They are their security and investigate all
accidents. I dont know how the union allows this.
 
I shake my head how Trimet can go before the media and
say we dont have a crime problem and that the MAX is
safe to ride at night. I work checking the fares and I
see for myself what is out there. Two of the judges we
appear before will not ride the train at night and one
court clerk. I was assaulted twice last year and I
know several of my co-workers also had physical
confrontations.
 
 

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