The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is beginning its efforts to hire the first officers to staff its in-house public safety department.
The LA Metro Board approved a plan to establish its own police force nearly two years ago. Metro has since named Bill Scott as police chief for the new Metro Department of Public Safety, but most progress to this point has taken place behind the scenes.
At the time of the March 2024 vote to approve the creation of the in-house police force, officials said the process would likely take several years, approximately five, with the likelihood of being operational in time for the 2028 Olympics out of reach. In the meantime, Scott is currently leading Metro’s security coordination during the FIFA World Cup later this month and will do so again for the Olympics.
Scott had previously told the Metro Board of Directors that he hopes to hire 52 sworn officers this fiscal year, according to reporting by the LAist.
Read More: LA Metro searching for partner to operate water taxi service during 2028 Olympics
A website promoting the Metro police force lists salaries that range from $87,000 to $130,500 for entry-level officers. Higher-up positions range from $95,000 to $142,500. The jobs are available to those 21 and older who have the equivalent of a high school diploma.
Applicants without law enforcement experience can be paid to attend the police academy as part of their onboarding, according to the employment website. All positions come with health and retirement benefits and paid time off.
LA Metro had its own police force for decades
The decision to create a new in-house public safety department from scratch is ambitious but not necessarily uncharted territory for LA Metro, or, at least, its predecessor.
From 1978 to 1997, the Southern California Rapid Transit District operated a police force or more than 500 officers. At its peak, it was the tenth-largest law enforcement agency in California and the largest transit police force in the country.
But that police force was eventually absorbed by the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in a cost-cutting move seen by many as creative accounting to achieve a campaign promise made by then-mayor Rick Riordan.
In the years since the Metro police force was disbanded, the transportation agency has instead outsourced policing to local law enforcement agencies, including the LAPD, LASD and the Long Beach Police Department.
But the effectiveness of those multi-million-dollar contracts have been repeatedly been called into question, and ultimately led to Metro’s 2024 board ruling to go its own way.
Read More: What to know about LA Metro’s new D Line extension
A headline-grabbing 2023 audit from the Office of the Inspector General showed that the majority of officers assigned to transit duty spent most of their days in their patrol vehicles, rather than patrolling stations, buses and trains. The audi also found that more than half of 911 calls that would have fallen under the jurisdiction of those transit personnel were actually receiving response from officers not assigned to Metro duty.
After that scathing report, LAPD and LASD vowed to do better and argued against a new Metro-centric police force (potentially in order to keep those lucrative contracts). The Long Beach Police Department, however, did not renew its contract with LA Metro and stopped policing the system in early 2025.
Unlike local law enforcement agencies that currently contract with LA Metro, officials said the policing approach at its stations and on its trains and buses will be “care-based.”
Metro DPS is defining a culture where public safety is not just about enforcing rules, but about building a strong, respectful, and resilient Metro community. Integrity ensures fairness and trust, empathy ensures compassion and understanding, and collaboration ensures that everyone has a role in keeping people safe.
LA Metro Public Safety hiring website
Metro officials describe the department of public safety as a “holistic public safety ecosystem” that will work in concert with Metro Ambassadors, crisis interventionists, mental health professionals and homeless outreach coordinators—in addition to security and sworn officers.
Sworn members of the new police force will be trained in “modern policing strategies,” focused on visibility and enforcement, responding and de-escalating crises, and “community-centered engagement.”
For additional details about these job listings, click here.
For more stories like this, follow Rabble News on Instagram and Facebook.
