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Metro Transit ramps up light rail enforcement efforts
Crime along transit system is trending downward, but agency seeks to improve the train experience for riders.
ST PAUL, Minn. — If you ride a Metro Transit light rail train expect a more visible presence of different types of uniformed personnel, including sworn officers, community service officers, contract security and others looking to help passengers in a crisis and make sure they pay.
That’s thanks, in part, to a change in state law that allows non-sworn officers to do fare checks and write civil citations. It’s all part of what the agency is calling the Transit Rider Investment Program.
“With this new approach, our CSOs have inspected over 1,900 fares and issued about 190 citations just in the first week alone,” Metro Transit General Manager Leslie Kandaras told reporters outside Union Depot Tuesday.
The Met Council Wednesday will consider a new rider code of contact, which will be printed on large signs posted throughout the transit system. It makes it clear a variety of activities aren’t allowed on Metro Transit buses and trains, including smoking, doing drugs, playing loud music, littering and urinating.
“These revised rules for riding will provide more opportunity to clearly set and communicate expectations for everyone who’s riding Metro Transit,” Kandaras explained.
She asserted the combination of community service officers, contract agents through Allied Security and outreach workers from the Transit System Intervention Project is having an effect on how riders view their trips. All of these actions will free up sworn officers to spend more time preventing and responding to criminal activity.
“We hear from our riders that having more official presence on the system helps contribute to their sense of safety, so we think growing this Transit Rider Investment Program will help riders continue to feel safe and comfortable while riding.”
Metro Transit Police Chief Ernest Morales III says that crime on the transit system has dropped by 32% since the beginning of the year. He asserts having more people on trains and platforms taking part in mainly positive interactions with riders will drive that number down further.
“Our plan is simple: more people in more places,” Morales told reporters.
“We feel by having our CSOs out there, uniformed presence, as well as supplemental security that people will feel safe because they’ll have a friendly face around.”
Morales and Kandaras pointed out Metro Transit has followed a mandate from state lawmakers to improve the rider experience, and to partner with a variety of nonprofits and local governmental entities to address those passengers who are experiencing homelessness or other crises.
“Community service officers will be equipped to help in particular a mental health crisis, substance abuse disorder, and have the tools to supply housing and job opportunities.”
He said one advantage of adding more CSOs to the mix is to have a pool of potential transit police recruits.
“We believe if we focus on our community service officer recruitment plan that in the future three years from now, we’ll have a steady resource pool of candidates we can pull our police officers from,” Morales remarked.
Ridership is nowhere close to pre-pandemic levels, and many of those weekday commuters of yesteryear are still working from home. But the number of riders has been rising steady on both the Blue Line and the Green Line, according to Metro Transit.
Metro Transit is inviting riders to take part in one of these listening sessions next month:
- Tuesday, Jan. 9: 1:30 p.m. – 4 p.m., Blue Line
- Wednesday, Jan. 10: 7 a.m. – 1:30 p.m., Green Line
- Thursday, Jan. 11: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Blue Line
- Friday, Jan. 12: 7 a.m. – 8:30 a.m., Green Line
Chief Morales, Kandaras and Met Council Chair Charlie Zelle all appeared at the State Capitol Tuesday for an interim hearing held by the House Transportation Committee.
Lawmakers wanted an update on the agency’s multi-pronged efforts to attract riders back to the system, and to reduce criminal activity on trains and buses.
“We hear from property owners along the lines, from the airport personnel, from people that use our facilities that we’re improving,” Chair Zelle told the panel.
“We’re not where we need to be, but we are definitely making headway.”
Morales said police officers have spent more time riding on the trains. They’ll park their patrol cars near the track, hop on the train for a few stops and then catch another train back to their vehicles.
Rep. Brad Tabke, a Shakopee Democrat, asked if Metro Transit was finding a good balance between enforcing the laws and treating homeless riders with dignity.
Kandaras and Morales both laid out in detail how the new initiatives have been working. They supplemented their testimony with this illustrated report.
Rep. John Petersburg, a Waseca Republican, asked Morales why enforcement efforts were focused more heavily on the Blue Line initially, as opposed to the Green Line.
The chief said it was based in part on his experience coming to Minnesota for the first time, riding the Blue Line before he was even hired. He worried about conditions on that train, which runs from Mall of America to downtown Minneapolis, passing through the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on the way.
“We decided we would send a message that we are committed to cleaning up the perception of our light rail system, and then spreading that around,” Morales explained.
Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
John Sawchak faces four felony charges after officials said he shot his neighbor on Grand Avenue South while trimming a tree on their shared property line.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man is recovering in the hospital after being shot outside his home in a dispute with a neighbor on Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis on Oct. 23.
According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a hospital for a report of a gunshot victim on Wednesday night. The injured man had been transported from his home on Grand Avenue South for an unknown medical condition that caused him to collapse. The man was found in the fetal position by his wife when she got home from work that evening.
Officials later identified the victim as Davis Maturi.
At the hospital, providers found a small puncture wound in the back of Maturi’s neck that led to the discovery of a bullet lodged near his spine. When he arrived at the hospital, he couldn’t recall what led up to him being shot, according to the criminal complaint.
Maturi’s wife told officials that he had been outside earlier in the day pruning a tree near their property line with a chainsaw. She said their neighbor, John Herbert Sawchak, 54, had “almost certainly” shot her husband.
In the previous week, Maturi’s wife said Sawchak told her husband “Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you.”
The criminal complaint goes on to detail numerous complaints of harassment the Maturi’s experienced since purchasing their house in September 2023.
Oct. 11, 2023: Maturi approached Sawchak to discuss the tree on their property line. Sawchak became irate, according to the criminal complaint, yelling at Maturi and using “racially charged language.” Sawchak told Maturi if he “touched” the tree, Sawchak would “take care of” him.
March 1, 2024: Sawchak approached Maturi while he was working outside his house on a ladder. While verbally harassing him, officials said Sawchak told Maturi that he would put him in the hospital.
April 5, 2024: Sawchak threw household items at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window.
May 28, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi, calling him “a Black bastard,” and telling him “I’m going to kill you if you call the police again. All you people do is lie and commit crimes.”
Aug. 7, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi from his 2nd story window. Maturi saw Sawchak holding up a large knife in the window while threatening to kill Maturi and his wife.
Oct. 8, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened and screamed racial slurs at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window. Sawchak also, once again, brandished a knife from his window while threatening to kill Maturi.
Oct. 14, 2024: Maturi saw Sawchak outside Maturi’s home with a firearm. Sawchak pointed the firearm at Maturi through the window.
On the evening of Oct. 23, Maturi’s wife went home to pack some things and leave for the night, officials said. Sawchak verbally harassed her and shone a stone light on her as she left her home, the criminal complaint read. The next day, Maturi and his wife were able to access home security footage from their home cameras. The video shows Maturi working outside near the tree at the property line with his back to Sawchak’s home. A faint “crack” or “pop” can be heard, then Maturi collapsed to the ground.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion. He talked to KARE 11 from his hospital bed and said he feels the police failed to protect his family by not arresting Sawchak during one of the various other incidents.
“If you’re saying you’re scared, what does that do to me?” Maturi said. “You have this body armor, you have professional training… when I call for assistance, when I called for having a knife pointed at me, I had to wait hours and hours and hours.”
As of Sunday morning, Sawchak is not in police custody. According to the criminal complaint, Sawchak has at least three active warrants associated with prior threats or acts of violence against Matsuri and other neighbors. Sawchak has “actively evaded” police during their prior attempts to contact or arrest him.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey showed anger and blame directed at the Minneapolis police department for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Watch Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s response below:
