Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
July 8, 1988
STAN FEDERMAN -

        Tri-Met has hired private security guards to ride buses and light-rail
trains on Friday and Saturday nights, an action its union claims violates  the
labor contract.

TRI-MET'S LOTS PARK & LOSE FOR VICTIM

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
June 24, 1988
CHRIS MYERS -

  Her car has been stolen from them four times in the last four years.

      The police don't keep records of thefts and break-ins at Park & Ride lots,
and neither does Tri-Met.

        Police spokesmen in Portland, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and Beaverton
reported no significant problems with theft and break-ins at Park & Ride lots in
those  areas. Gresham police Sgt. Craig Walliker, however, estimated that his
office  received reports of about one car theft per week from transit-center
parking  lots in Gresham.

      ``We don't see it as a big problem, but every time a crime is committed,
obviously it's a big problem for the victim,'' said Phill Colombo, a public
information officer for Tri-Met.

        Colombo said more thefts might be reported from Gresham simply because
there were more lots there.
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TRI-MET SECURITY PLANS

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
June 24, 1988

        Tri-Met announced Thursday its plans to spend $620,000 in the coming
year  to improve security measures. During the 1988-89 fiscal year, which begins
July 1, Tri-Met plans to improve security aboard its vehicles, develop  in-house
security-conscious training and strengthen the agency's ties with the community
and overall crime-prevention efforts. Here are the recommended  security
expenditures:
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TRI-MET TO TRIPLE MONEY BUDGETED FOR SECURITY

Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
June 24, 1988
STAN FEDERMAN - of the Oregonian Staff

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USING COMMON SENSE BEST BET FOR PASSENGERS WHO RIDE
TRI-MET, LIGHT< RAIL < RIDERS URGED TO BE ALERT, TRAVEL
DURING PEAK HOURS, KEEP TRACK OF< POSSESSIONS AND
BEHAVE CONFIDENTLY
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
October 23, 1988
Author: JANN MITCHELL - of the Oregonian Staff

Quotes from the article

Crime is increasing; Tri-Met buses and Metropolitan Area Express (MAX)
trains are no exceptions. Assaults on, and injuries to, drivers and passengers,
as well as vandalism, are continuing problems.

Plans include public telephones at each MAX station (the emergency number
911 can be dialed without coins); intercoms in second MAX cars so passengers
can communicate with the train operator in the first car; video cameras aboard
buses and at MAX stations; and conflict-avoidance training for drivers. The
agency also hopes to contract for additional police to have the equivalent of
10 full-time officers.

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GOVERNOR DIRECTS STATE POLICE TO RIDE TRI-MET
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
November 12, 1988
Author: STAN FEDERMAN - of the Oregonian Staff

Quotes from the article

Floyd McKay, who called the new unit “a preventive action . . . so we can deal with
the problem before it becomes more serious.'’

McKay said there were indications some of the security problems aboard Tri-Met
vehicles were “gang-related.'’  In a prepared statement, Goldschmidt said:
“I am absolutely adamant that its (Portland’s) citizens feel safe at all times in
using a fine mass transit system.’‘

Doug Capps, Tri-Met’s public services director, “It will allow us to better work
out a long-term solution with local law enforcement people,'’ he said.

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TROOPERS BEGIN TRI-MET PATROL
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
November 16, 1988
Author: STAN FEDERMAN - of the Oregonian Staff

Quotes from the article

Tri-Met officials contend that assault problems in which passengers attack drivers or
other passengers have not increased greatly in recent months. However, it has been
the growing violence of these attacks -- in which knives and guns often are used --
that resulted in the decision to bring troopers aboard vehicles.

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RIDERS, EMPLOYEES FEEL THREATENED
Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
December 3, 1988
Author: BARNES C. ELLIS - of the Oregonian Staff David Austin of The
Oregonian

Quotes from the article

English became a statistic, one of the dozen Tri-Met passengers assaulted
every month, according to agency officials. And though Gov. Neil Goldschmidt
ordered state troopers onto the system last month, an evening spent riding the
rails and wheels of Tri-Met shows that many passengers and employees
of the system still feel threatened.

Is Tri-Met safe? Since the agency cut its transit police department in 1986,
some believe the system has increasingly become a playpen for vandals and
groups of youths who ride for free and harass or assault other passengers.

Statistics appear to support that charge

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