BART Police Chief announces retirement after just two years on the job

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- BART's Police Chief announced his sudden retirement Tuesday. The decision comes after leading the department for nearly two tumultuous years.

BART Board Vice President, Rebecca Saltzman had only good things to say about BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas' tenure.

"He's a great guy to work with and I think everyone at BART will miss him. He's really focused on recruitment, having incentives, changing the hiring process and I think he's been successful at that."

BART police officer vacancies are down from 40 to 20 and some regular riders say officers are more visible as well.

Janet Maceachem said, "The Civic Center BART Station-- they are trying to improve it and it's something we've been noticing."

But not everyone has seen positive changes. Some have only experienced painful repercussions after riding BART. Nia Wilson and her sister were both stabbed last summer at the MacArthur Station. Nia died and the rest of the family is emotional and angry at BART's Chief.

Letifah Wilson is Nia's sister. She was also stabbed that day and said, "If things were being done right, there wouldn't be so many tragedies happening on BART. Now we can have somebody else to do the job right, not just slack on it."

A suspect has been arrested for Nia's death.

But in the last few weeks, a man was stabbed after a fight at Fruitvale Station, and a woman was shot and killed in a West Oakland BART parking lot.

Another regular BART rider said, "He's the leader right, and a lot of people are counting on him."

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