people keep dying from fentanyl on Los Angeles trains and residents are growing increasingly frustrated over it, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
There have been 22 deaths on metro buses and trains, mainly due to overdoses since January, surpassing 2022\u2019s total, according to the LA Times. Local residents have largely stopped using the city\u2019s transit systems in their commutes to work
One train operator described the situation on the trains as a \u201chorror,\u201d telling the LA Times anonymously that he saw a man masturbating and several people high on drugs that were falling asleep on the trains earlier that day.
\u201cWe don\u2019t even see any businesspeople anymore. We don\u2019t see anybody going to Universal. It\u2019s just people who have no other choice [than] to ride the system, homeless people and drug users,\u201d the train operator said.
Fentanyl is a highly-potent synthetic narcotic that\u2019s largely responsible for the roughly 100,000 drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Serious crimes, such as such as rape, aggravated assault, robbery and murder, also increased 24% from 2021 to 2022, according to the LA Times. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority reported that between November and January there were 26 medical emergencies at the MacArthur Park\/Westlake station, which is situated near an open-air drug market.
In January, the number of riders taking the train\u2019s Gold Line was 30% of the pre-pandemic levels, and the Red Line was 56% of the same levels.
The Crenshaw line, which cost the city $2.1 billion, had fewer than 2,100 riders on average on weekdays in January, according to the LA Times.
\u201cThere\u2019s so many sleepers,\u201d a train driver said, according to the LA Times. \u201cNobody notices that the guy quit breathing until they\u2019re blue. And then by that time, it\u2019s too late.\u201d
The security chief for the transit agency previously said she\u2019ll request that its board, which includes Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, expand the number of transit officers beyond the 200 already on the force, according to the LA Times. The board is also soon to decide on the issue of whether or not to extend their contracts with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department and the Long Beach Police Department.
Some, however, are concerned by the efforts to increase policing. The transit authority allocated $122 million over the last year to add 300 unarmed \u201cambassadors\u201d to help report crimes, according to the LA Times.
\u201cWhat will harassment and jailing people who use drugs do to address drug use rates?\u201d Alison Vu, a spokesperson for the ACT-LA, a social justice advocacy coalition that advocates against the agency\u2019s contracts with law enforcement, said. \u201cWe\u2019ve poured so much money into policing, without any measurable impact on care or safety for transit riders.\u201d
Metro Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins tried to share the success of the \u201cambassador\u201d program on March 6, when she spoke to reporters as a man in a nearby train car placed marijuana into a cigar wrapper while throwing tobacco onto the floor, according to the LA Times.
\u201cI do think there\u2019s something about the culture of the riding public, that if they know there\u2019s someone who is empowered to report [illegal activity] that may be a deterrent to the activity itself,\u201d Wiggins said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n