MINNEAPOLIS — It may be safe to say that with the new year, you can expect a new Metro Transit.
After increased crime and plummeting ridership, the organization spent last year implementing more than 40 safety action items with a new police chief leading its department.
"I think both the numbers, as well as the stories people are telling us, suggest that things are starting to improve," said Metro Transit General Manager Lesley Kandaras.
The focus on public safety also includes further employee training and an updated rider code of conduct that the Metropolitan Council adopted for the first time.
"I think, really, this attempt to build these layers of official presence has been helpful, and by that I mean we have our police officers out there and they play a really important role, but being able to bring online the security officers, community service officers, the outreach workers are helping us demonstrate that we really care about the experience on our system," said Kandaras.
There are now five community-based organizations addressing homelessness and substance abuse, including A Mother's Love Initiative. The group is a grassroots organization focused on gun violence.
Metro Transit has also hired supplemental security to do fare checks and there are 111 police officers - part of what's one of the largest departments in the state. At the helm of the department for the last year is Chief Ernest Morales III.
"We have a massive footprint, but if we don't effectively communicate our ability to police in this state, no one realizes how much we have to offer," said Morales III.
He has over 30 years of experience in various roles in law enforcement, including the New York City Police Department and Mount Vernon Police Department, as well as being a dedicated athlete.
He just launched a new recruitment effort to fill some 70 spots that are still open within the department. It includes a pathway program to put people, with no experience, on track to get a job and earn college credits at no cost.
"What we tell all our police officers is we want three things," said Morales III. "I want you to police professionally, respectfully and empathetically. I think that's where my successes come from, leading from the front, not expecting anyone to do something I'm not willing to do myself."
KARE 11 reporter Jennifer Hoff asked Kandaras how important Morales III is to the department and making improvements stick.
"I think part of what he brings is a new perspective and it has certainly demonstrated he feels ownership over it.," said Kandaras, who said Morales III is making a difference.
Metro Transit reports there has been a 33% drop in reported crime from the first to third quarter of 2023. That's also due in part to what Morales III calls pro-active enforcement.
"We eliminate everything else and the people we don't want to deal with on a normal basis start avoiding the system," said Morales III.
Perhaps, though, beyond policing, what drives Morales III to make change, is more personal.
"I grew up poor in a single-family home on welfare and a drug-addicted home," said Morales III. "I knew early on I wanted to break that cycle."
He hopes to address those root causes that run in his family and caught up with Morales last fall when his brother died from a drug overdose.
"If I can make it out of that, then I know everyone here who's suffering they have the opportunity to do so and I just have to show them the pathway forward," said Morales III.
A caring, but firm, promise to the public to keep cleaning up crime and moving the state of Metro Transit forward.
"I think we have momentum; we're headed in the right direction," said Morales III.
Another move Morales III is making is changing the police academy from eight weeks to five. Not eliminating those three weeks; rather, putting a cadet right in the field, not the classroom, with a training officer, to speed up the process.
Many of these public safety measures were made possible with a sales tax, part of a transportation bill lawmakers approved last year.
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