Slaying Underscores Issue of L.A. Bus Rider Safety

When a transit police force has only 383 people to patrol three rail lines and 1,750 buses, it helps to know where to put the officers and when they might be needed. As it turns out, one of those places should have been a section of the new route for the No. 53 bus in South-Central Los Angeles, after the close of the school day.

It was on that bus, at that time, and in that new section that 17-year-old Corie Williams was shot to death, unintentionally, by a gangbanger. Was it a shooting that could have been prevented? The answer is probably no, but there are strong lessons here.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials who alter bus routes for a variety of reasons do not do so with the county’s gang turf in mind. And there was nothing about the 53 bus that had drawn the attention of the MTA police. Before the route changed, No. 53 had few problems, says MTA Police Chief Sharon Papa.

So there were no undercover MTA police working the route on Jan. 16 when Corie Williams was shot. There were no police vehicles trailing buses in case of trouble. But there were important clues of the sort that should be considered in the future. Gang members had targeted the 53 bus in the days before, yelling and spitting at rivals riding in it as it passed. It was the kind of unexpected but simmering problem that Papa now says she wants to be warned about, by bus passengers, drivers, even passersby on the street.

“Clearly, it’s something we would respond to,” Papa says. “It’s the kind of intelligence we need.” (The MTA police phone number is [213] 922-5100.)

Even a few officers directed to a potential or active trouble spot can make a difference, Papa says, crediting one 12-member MTA police unit for reducing crimes on South-Central bus routes by about 25% from April of 1994 through March of 1995 and in the corresponding period of 1995-96. A similar team will be deployed in East Los Angeles this year.

Reported crime on MTA buses seems to be relatively rare for a system that handles 1.1 million riders per day. In December, for example, there were 89 reported offenses. But that still works out to roughly three criminal incidents a day, and those figures do not include anecdotal accounts of intimidation of drivers and passengers by unruly riders and street thugs.

The latter is the kind of incident that should be reported far more often to the MTA police, the LAPD or the county Sheriff’s Department. It just might help prevent another tragedy like Corie Williams’ murder.