BART officers had been working 10-hour shifts, six days a week. Now all that overtime is voluntary.
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BART police Depity Chief Lance Haight said, "People will see additional officers on our trains but not to the full extent when people had to work six days a week, but we are still having additional coverage. "
BART estimates there were ten to 20 officers riding on trains on an average day with the mandatory overtime. Now there will be four to 10 officers.
BART recently secured a federal safety and security grant for $6.8 million. They will start spending that money in September. But the focus of the grant is anti-terrorism, not crime. Still it will provide some upgrades in surveillance cameras.
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Deputy Chief Haight said, "People realize if I commit a crime on BART, my photo will be captured and I will be apprehended and that is a deterrent to crime absolutely. "
But attorney Bob Arns who is representing Nia Wilson's family in a lawsuit against BART said, "Security cameras will catch the crime being committed but it won't stop the crime. "
He added, "BART is like a sieve for the criminally and mentally ill who want to be in a confined space and spend the day. BART knows the only way to stop crime on BART is to stop fare evasion."
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