Policing and Public Transportation (2022)

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TCRP LRD 58 45 However, various news outlets have reported that, for a variety of reasons, police forces in some areas have been unable, or even unwilling, to enforce such mandates and orders.647 In February 2021, The Washington Post described some of the difficulties that transportation authorities were having in complying with the fed- eral order requiring masks on trains and buses.648 An earlier ar- ticle, dated July 17, 2020, in The Wall Street J ournal, reported that in some area police forces were not enforcing mask mandates.649 PART VIII – Public Transportation Authorities’ Effective Use of Public Relations, Law Enforcement Organization and Contractual Structures, and Administration of Law Enforcement and Training XVIII. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITIES’ EFFECTIVE USE OF COMMUNITY POLICING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS As discussed in this section, public transportation authori- ties are striving to make effective use of community policing and public relations to improve their policing. Some public trans- portation authorities provided documents and other informa- tion for the digest that demonstrate the authorities’ emphasis on including their community in law enforcement.650 A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) article stresses the im- portance of the relationship between the police and the affected communities they serve to achieve more effective policing. The article recommends that law enforcement agencies be transpar- ent and accountable in their policing and that communities acknowledge and discuss the challenges facing them. The DOJ recommends that police forces take “steps to reduce bias and improve cultural competency,” focus on collaboration and visi- bility in the community, and promote “internal diversity and en- sure professional growth opportunities within police forces.”651 As for what is meant by the term community policing, the Bi-State Development Agency (MetroLink) notes that the DOJ’s 647 See Tom Knight, Why law enforcement isn’t enforcing mask man- dates, The Hill (July 30, 2020), https://thehill.com/changing-america/ opinion/509859-why-law-enforcement-isnt-enforcing-mask-mandates (last accessed Jan. 31, 2022). 648 Luz Lazo, Lori Aratani, and Justin George, Transportation agencies wrestle with new federal mask mandate (February 1, 2021), https://www. washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/transportation-mask- mandate/2021/02/01/32aa36d8-64b8-11eb-8c64-9595888caa15_story. html (last accessed Jan. 31, 2022). 649 Jim Carlton, Mandatory Mask Laws Aren’t Enforced as Coronavi- rus Continues to Spread, The Wall Street Journal (July 17, 2020), https://www.wsj.com/articles/mandatory-mask-laws-arent-enforced-as- coronavirus-continues-to-spread-11594978200 (last accessed Jan. 31, 2022). 650 See Appendix A, and Items and attachments thereto that are ref- erenced in this Section XVIII of the digest. 651 U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Community Relations Services, Toolkit for Policing, Why Police-Community Relationships Are Important, https:// www.justice.gov/crs/file/836486/download (last accessed Jan. 31, 2022). Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) describes com- munity policing as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving technique[s], to proactively address the im- mediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.”652 King County Metro defines community policing as a con- cept that requires police officers, transit employees, and cus- tomers to work together in creative ways [to] help solve contemporary transit security problems related to crime, fear of crime, social and physical disorder and transit system decay. The philosophy is predicated on the belief that achieving these goals requires that police departments develop a new relationship with people in the community, allowing them greater voice in setting local priorities, and involving them in efforts to improve the overall quality of life on mass transit. It shifts the focus of police work from handling random calls to solving problems.653 MetroLink advises that community policing especially applies to transit security for which “the primary goal” is to secure “the system through proactive and collaborative ef- forts to change negative behavior on public transportation systems. . . . [C]ommunity policing is proactive and focuses on developing and maintaining relationships between officers and riders to build mutual trust and respect.”654 Community polic- ing has been described as a collaborative partnership between a “law enforcement agency or agencies and the individuals and organizations—including public transit agencies—that they serve, and anyone with a stake in the community. The public should be involved in prioritizing public safety problems.”655 As for the impact of public relations on the success of public transportation authorities’ policing, MetroLink states that “the media can be a powerful conduit [to affect] public perception of law enforcement, security, crime, and fear of crime. The media can assist with publicizing community concerns and available solutions.”656 According to the DOJ, the concept of community policing embraces, for example, the following principles and objectives: • Shifting the focus of police work from responding to individual inci- dents to addressing problems primarily identified by the community and the police. Community stakeholders can employ problem-solv- ing approaches to supplement traditional law enforcement methods. • Citizen and Officer empowerment is paramount. Officers must be permitted to work with the community so that the responsibility of problem solving can be shifted to the community. This process takes time, trust and commitment from all levels of the agency. 652 MetroLink, Technical Memo – Security Training, [here- inafter MetroLink, Security Training], Appendix A, Item 4, at 3 (internal quotation marks omitted). 653 King County Metro, Transit Resource Officer, Standard Operating Procedures (Sept 1, 2017), Appendix A, Item 14, at ¶ 6.1. See also, Appendix A, Item 14 (Appendix 1, Community Meetings). 654 MetroLink, Security Training, supra note 652, Appendix A, Item 4, at 3. 655 Id. at 4. 656 Id.