Who are the Transit Police?

Misconceptions and public perceptions

By Rebecca Peterson, Assistant Editor

For hundreds of thousands of people
in the Lower Mainland, transit is a
staple of everyday life. Whether by
bus, by train, or even by boat, many
of us rely on the system to get us to
work, to school, to appointments,
and home again safely. We also rely
ona department of the BC police
that deal specifically with criminal
activity and safety concerns on our
transit systems: The Transit Police.

The Metro Vancouver Transit
Police are one of a kind in Canada;
no other province has a police
department specifically tied to
transit. They are multi-jurisdictional
and cross many municipalities, and
according to their website, “are
proud to work in partnership with
jurisdictional police, TransLink, and
other transit community partners.”

Reviews of Transit Police
behaviour have run the gamut
from positive to negative; however,
the waters become muddied
very quickly when you take into
consideration the ease with which
Transit Police can become confused
with other figures of authority
on TransLink-owned systems.

Anne Drennan, spokesperson for
the Metro Vancouver Transit Police,
clarified who the Transit Police are
and what their role is. Right from
the top, Drennan was quick to point
a common problem with how the
media depicts Transit Police.

“We are not ‘TransLink Police,”
she said in a phone interview

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
 
  
 
  
  

with the Other Press. “The majority
of media get it mixed up all the

time. It’s a police department that
serves and protects our entire transit
system. That includes all of the trains
including the WestCoast Express,
the SeaBus, and the buses. TransLink
Security are not police officers—they
don’t have powers of arrest, they
don’t carry side arms, they aren’t
trained at a police academy. They
work specifically on and around
buses, they don’t work on the train
system, the SeaBus, anything like
that, They’re specifically for buses.
The uniforms look somewhat similar
in that they’re both dark uniforms,
but there are marked differences of
course ... If you look at them, their
duty belts are very different in that
they aren't carrying side arms.

“Transit Police officers are fully
certified police officers that train with
all other municipal police officers
at the Justice Institute of BC Police
Academy, so they have exactly the
same training as police officers and
all the same powers of arrest, just
as municipal police officers do.”

Many of the complaints received
by our paper centered around fare
disputes, so we asked if that’s part
of a Transit Police officer’s job.

“That is an occasional part of it,”
Drennan said. “Sometimes on trains,
not too often on the train itself ... but
the majority of their time is spent
responding to calls on the system.”

The questions asked on social
media to collect stories from transit
users specifically referred to Transit
Police behaviour: However, because
of the ease with which TransLink
Security and SkyTrain Attendants
can and have been confused for
Transit Police, there is a possibility
that some of the stories quoted in

this article might be referring to
people who were simply mistaken
for Transit Police officers.
“| have personally never seen
the transit police do anything
fishy or negative,” said New

4A Westminster resident Rosie
—~ , Forst, in a Facebook comment.

“ve heard stories that about 10
years ago they were really bad.

Like cuffing people (my friend)
for not having a ticket, etc. But
honestly | haven’t encountered
anything negative personally.”

“| guess I’ve been lucky, but
I’ve been consciously impressed
with the calm professional
manner I’ve seen Transit Police
deal with some very belligerent
and erratic people,” said another
responder on Facebook, James
Hussen. “I’ve called them before
when I’ve felt unsafe because of
other passengers’ behaviour and |
wouldn't hesitate to do it again.”
Jeffrey Banggayan, President
of the Douglas College Business
Association, sent the Other Press

feedback on Transit Police via e-mail.

Banggayan said he
felt that Transit Police are
effective, to an extent.
“Transit Police show up
when the yellow strip is
pushed (One instance was
a drunk guy was ... invading
everyone's personal space,

someone pressed the wire and

a supervisor was at the next

stop followed by the transit
police). | don’t see them catch
many people evading ticket fees.

“I take the 319 to the SkyTrain
pretty often and they are usually
on that at least once a week. One
experience that stands out is a guy
tried tapping and his card didn’t
have enough fare so he turned
around and tried to leave. Before
he got off the officer told him to
load up the card at the station.
Seems small, but it shows they are
understanding and compassionate.”

We shared these stories
with Drennan to get her
take on the situations.

“Well, ’m glad to hear that
some people feel that way,” said
Drennan. “Our approach is to be
as approachable as possible, were
there to help people on the system
in whatever way we can. We deal
with a lot of persons on the system
who have mental health issues,
we deal with a lot of people who
are drug users and suffering the
effects of being high or withdrawing
while using the system. And we
deal with people on a daily basis
from every walk of life, so again our
focus is to help people whenever
we can in whatever way we can.”

However, not everyone
we talked to have had positive
experiences with Transit Police.

“(\] literally watched a transit
cop threaten to deport a young
mother and separate her from her
child,” said Emma van Tol, a former
Douglas student, via Facebook. “He
was very threatening and taunting.
Obviously more aggressive than
required for an unpaid fare.”

“| don’t think they’re effective
at all, and | don’t think they should
exist,” said Miko Janzen, a Lower
Mainland resident, via Twitter. “|
don't understand why TransLink
requires what is basically a private
police force to do nothing but make
sure people aren't committing under
$5 worth of theft. And even more
| don’t understand why they need
to be equipped with body armor
and weapons including firearms to
do that. They already have security
guards and all local police still
have jurisdiction on platforms and
stations. It comes off as intimidation,
and the fact that these people
are paid pretty substantial salaries
to make sure you've payed $2.85
is a bit of a kick in the teeth.”

Janzen also had a troubling
story to tell from her own personal
experience with the downside
of Transit Police, which occurred
a few years ago during her
involvement with a local theatre
group based in Vancouver.

“| got a text saying a 14-year-
old member {of the cast) had been
removed by Transit Police off the
SkyTrain because they hadn’t
bought a ticket at Stadium-
Chinatown,” said Janzen. “So |
went out, because the idea of
a 14-year-old, separated from
the group they were travelling
with, trapped downtown at 10
p.m. on a Saturday because they
had no way to get home and
no cellphone to call for a ride
honestly scared the shit out of me.

“Most of my interactions
have been completely benign,
but are always in the context of
a much larger person in body
armor with obvious weapons
(why do they need guns) on
their person hovering over me
asking for proof | paid the $2.85
to be allowed on the train/
bus. | don’t feel [in danger]
necessarily, but definitely not
safe because | know that
they aren’t there to protect

me, or keep transit safe. Theyre
there to make sure TransLink’s
bottom line isn’t affected.”

We asked Drennan’s opinion
on these more negative instances.

“Well, first of all, are you
referring to incidents on buses?”
asked Drennan. We explained that
these were incidents that to our
knowledge took place on SkyTrains
and at SkyTrain stations. “| can tell
you that all youths and minors are
dealt with respect in regards to
where theyre going, what they’re
doing on the system, particularly
if they're alone, how they’re going
to get home etc., so our general
practice certainly is to assist those
people when they have no other
means of transportation. It isn’t a
general practice to leave anybody
that is a minor without means of
transportation at any time, whether
it be late at night or during the day.”

We brought up van Tol’s account
again, and how she had witnessed
an officer threaten a woman with
deportation, and asked if Transit
Police often received complaints
about these kinds of threats.

“I’m not aware of that ever
occurring—in fact, | find that very
difficult to believe,” said Drennan.
“We don’t ask people when we're
dealing with fare issues what their
immigration status is. The only time
we would ever get involved with
that is if there’s a warrant on the
system: An immigration warrant
in the computer system indicating
that they are arrest-able for an
immigration offence, or if a person
when we're speaking to them gives
us false information such as a false