I have a job to do.
Today I had the honor of doing my first citizen's arrest against you. I first noticed you in Daly city when you boarded up, the smell of urine and the wheelchair is what caught my attention at first. The missing leg, faded green army jacket and your age made me wonder if you are a Vietnam Vet that fell through the cracks in the system.
It makes me think of myself and how the government treated me after Desert Storm. I feel a slight echo of human compassion that I thought public transit employment killed years ago. The large scar on my side I can hide from the world but you are a rolling display of loss.
I have a job to do. I gotta get these people up the line and I see you boarding up so I take an extra moment for you to get situated. Our trip is without problems and we arrive at Bay Point. I step off and our resident cowboy wakes you up to offboard so he can take the train to the train yard.
Lunch is over and I board my train back to DC. As I pull out of the station I spot you sitting in your wheelchair on the platform sleeping/unconcious and I wonder if you are having a medical issue. I call Central for a welfare check (compassion again?) and have another uneventfull trip.
My break ends at DC and I walk to my north unit. I see you just before the smell slaps at me stinging my eyes and slightly burning my lungs, but I have a job to do.
I haven't seen you before and I'm guessing you are a refugee from the sweeps in Golden Gate Park. As I depart DC I notice you have switched to our padded chair and you can now look straight at me from your spot next to the senior bench.
I call Central and let them know you have been in the system over three hours and I know that if you have a ticket it's now expired. The controller asks me if you are bothering anybody and I say no and it's up to him
as to what he wants to do with the information. He says 10-4.
I am arriving at Balboa and get up to open the window and there you are, right hand holding your pants down while furiously pumping your penis with your left. You don't even notice me a dozen pumps later as I'm looking out the side window announcing "Pittsbug Bay Point Train." I casually call Central and tell them you are now masturbating and give a description of you for the BART P.D.
We arrive at Glen Park and you holster it back where it should have remained because now another patron has boarded up and parked himself with the same clear view right under my window. As we depart, you decided to sit back in your wheelchair facing backward and now I notice you are urinating on the new laminate floor. I wonder what you would think knowing your actions are being broadcast all over the entire bay area.
I update Central and request for System service to address the puddle of urine that is now sloshing around my lead unit with no carpet to soak into. They tell me to hold at Civic Center and they'll see what they can do for the urine.
Whatever compassion I have for you summons up a picture of your urine sloshing around on it and it dies for the thousandth time. My train is starting to fill up a little and we continue on. I try not to imagine your urine seeping under my cab door and almost succeed but my eyes are still burning from human made amonia being circulated around me.
"Civic Center Station." I announce as we come to what is going to be your suprise exit point. I warn the B.P.D. about the urine and I see the grim nod that tells me all BPD experience this regularly. Feeling slightly foolish I watch in silence mentally kicking myself as he adjusts one of his rubber gloves.
I announce to the other passengers we will be here for a few moments and will continue shortly. His partner asked if I saw you doing the the deed and would I Citizen's Arrest you and if necessary, go to court as a witness. I look back at you and realize we have 4 cops devided between us. I tell him that yes, I saw you were roughing the suspect and that you swing left handed and I would do what is asked of me. He smiled at my comment and after taking my info, they released the train.
At Montgomery station I warned off the large unsuspecting family of tourists. I was watching through the glass as the other witness silently explained the details to them. I get all the way to Orinda and I can feel the tourists staring at me as they have been all the way up the line. The ammonia smell left with you and I glance at the now drying artwork before I make my P.A. to them.
"Keep staring and maybe I'll do a trick" I said with my usual half grin, they all laughed and I returned to my chair. I'm on my way to be interviewed at Bay point by the B.P.D. but right now... I have a job to do.
-T/O
As a rider who (1) has been
As a rider who (1) has been forced to move trains because of the stench of a rider who clearly was not going anywhere; (2) regularly sees people sleeping or otherwise unconscious on trains or at stations; (3) recognizes people on BART who most likely are always riding with "expired tickets" (nice euphamism); (4) has seen men urinating off the side of a platform, against a wall, and between cars; and (5) has twice personally observed men playing with themselves on trains -- once looking at me and once at another unfortunately more oblivious girl, my question for anyone in BART management or BPD, why did it take the TO calling on ALL of these things before something was done? TO called twice to Central as this individual rode up and down the Pittsburg-Bay Point to Daly City line. It would seem that as soon as he has gone all the way up north then back south it would be clear that he has no final destination in mind and that BPD would be justified in intervening. At that point, I would consider the urinating and masturbating on the train to be inevitable. After hours in the BART system, it is only a matter of time.
It seems to me that TO would be doing exactly what I would want him/her to do if I were a rider on that train -- call and keep calling. But for what? I guess as a rider, I am disheartened -- PPID is always telling us to call the TO if there are problems with riders or people are panhandling or someone is generally acting badly. But I think we can all admit that in many cases (especially given the seemingly high rate of mental instability in the Bay Area), it is sometimes easier to just switch cars. This post makes me even more reluctant to stick out my neck and call the TO if there is a problem.
I also am at a loss as to why it would take between Balboa (when the TO first noticed Mr. Winky) and Civic Center before there was some kind of intervention. Does anyone more knowledgeable than I have any insights?
petting the little man in
petting the little man in the canoe should not be tolerated on bart - especially not for four stops. he should have been nabbed at balboa or, at worst, glen park.
classic example of why
classic example of why passengers should report bad behavior ASAP. The crimes he commited are low priority and the police will let the train get to an officer rather than delay a train.
Once the trains leave the downtown areas the chance of getting caught drops.
Also reporting things after the person has left is a waste of time.
Another waste of time is to report something but then refuse to Id the person. If an officer does not see the crime they can't do anything about it.
Is that true? Urinating on
Is that true? Urinating on a train is a "low priority crime?" It seems like a high priority health hazard.
Also, in my original comment, I forgot to ask -- does the train have to get all the way back up to Pittsburg-Bay Point before the urine is mopped up?
I think that the BART cops
I think that the BART cops in S.F. ride the trains, so they are limited as to how fast they can get somewhere. Balboa Park to Civic Center is a 10 minute ride and the cops were already there when the train arrived. That is a pretty good response for a non violent crime.
As fare as the guy riding all that time without BPD intervening, how would anyone know that the guy was on that train all that time unless they were riding in the same car with him for the 3 hours? Is riding a train with no destination in mind a crime? The ACLU would love that one.
After 3 hours the faregates
After 3 hours the faregates will not allow you to exit. The police can but rarely cite the individual for "lodging".
99.99% of the time if you play nice like you had no idea, the police let you go.
Most of the time you can go to the Agents and they will flip their switch and just allow you to exit.
Thank you TO for making a
Thank you TO for making a citizens arrest. I, too, think masturbating and urinating should be more than a "low priority crime" to BPD. I really wish there was something more than can be done about these people, I see them all the time and the vulgar drunk people aren't much better. Brand new car last week and these two drunk dudes just trashed where they were sitting. I didn't see what they had done until I was exiting the train but they were throwing food all over the platform. If BPD was patrolling the platform, they wouldn't be doing this to begin with. If BART can't afford more Police Officers, then they should get some sort of additional security going at the stations and on trains to keep these people in check. Same goes with the parking lots. I've noticed stepped up patrol at North Concord lately though which makes me most happy.
Thanks!! Something had to
Thanks!! Something had to be done. I've boarded trains only to be repulsed back onto the platform by the stench. Meanwhile, other passengers are sitting there oblivious, or can they hold their breath that long?
Low Central interest for T/O
Low Central interest for T/O Complaints are the norm at BART. Now if a patron complained then it will get the attention it requires. I witnessed and CA'd a willie-wanker and had much grief over the incident. I won't report a wanker again unless he/she is complained on by a patron.
BART has it's priorities and T/O complaints aren't very far up on the list. Just ask the guy who got urine thrown in his face and was asked to go one more station before he could be relieved.
That's really sad but true.
That's really sad but true. Central doesn't much care for Train Operators complaining and will usually put it as lower priority. However if you preface it with "A passenger in car ____ said that ________," you'll probably get us on a Code 2 or 3... depending on the situation.
BART's feeling behind this (I'm guessin') is that if no passengers complain, it's not bothering them, just the Train Operator. Obviously this is incorrect but what can you do? I usually instruct operators and agents to preface things by "A patron said..."
But generally our response time is pretty good. We try as best we can with the Officers and resources we can. I agree that the way dispatchers prioritize could use some work.
speaking of trying your
speaking of trying your best: today i was on my usual train, and one of the mitchum deoderant advertisements was missing. in its place was an old bart advertisement that said: "officer forehand. full time police officer and an expert in customer service." below that tagline was a picture of "officer forehand" who looked like an aging hightower from police academy. he was helping some old guy read what looked like a starbucks menu. the old guy looked like howard hughes right before the "lock myself in my office and piss in mason jars" phase of his life. the sign was a sticker (probably why it was never removed), it was all bubbled and the system map behind the two men only went to concord and the line was orange, not yellow. i wanted to peel it off and add it to my bart sign collection.
Wow it has been a while
Wow it has been a while since I've seen those.
There was another one, as I recall, that said "Officer Forehand is here to help"
Some smartass changed it to "Officer Foreskin is here to help"
Anyone remember that?
So if you have cell phone
So if you have cell phone reception as a rider, it's better to call BART police than notify the operator? Is that what you're saying?
And I agree with the other person that it seems like they could get some lower level person to escort people breaking minor rules off the trains. Sorta BART hall monitor. Maybe they couldn't be legally cited or ticketed by someone else, but it seems like they could be asked to leave BART if the person was breaking rules.
If people were asked to leave all day long when ruining the system for others, it seems like it would move some of them out of the BART system and to somewhere else. The problem is that things are poorly and laxly enforced and everyone knows it (both those breaking rules and those seeing them do it), so it gets to the point where no one expects much to happen any more and people just try to stay out of the way and avoid the problems as best they can.
It's no wonder the trains are full of hobo juice, lice, STDs and drugs. It's also no wonder that people would rather take their own cars if it is at all feasible to do so.
depending on how you look at
depending on how you look at it people have rights.
if someone stinky buys a ticket you can't just kick them out. It's not a crime to stink. ( it should be).
If they are removed from the train, they hang out till the police leave then go back. Randi lady being the example.
It is also amazing how many people try/ask/happy to let their citations eventually get to a warrant. Especially in the winter, jail is a warm happy choice. Paid for by taxpayers
The other technique on cold days is to fake chest pains and spend a warm night by calling an ambulance. Medic can't refuse treatment.
"Aggressive Body Odor" or
"Aggressive Body Odor" or "Aggressive Body Odor on a Public Conveyance" is a misdemeanor as I was told, but I'm not 100% sure and this may not be true.
This event took place in the afternoon not late at night and, If I had said "Central I just recieved a passenger complaint about;" Central would probably have been more pro-active about it.
It is well known we as employees get mostly ignored if a complaint comes from us. The public is the V.I.P. so please call us when you see the annoying/illegal stuff going down.
That said, I feel Central did a good job and the B.P.D. were just fine. Sometimes it's way easier to let the train come to them depending on what's going on.
OK the cleaning staff is as cut back as the train service is on Sunday. Central has to call a system service supervisor and that person has to find and pull one of the already overworked running between three stations service people and coordinate a meet with the train.
It was actually easier to pull the car out of service and replace it so a car cleaner could get at it whlie he was working in the train yard.
Those people that thanked me publicly or just felt grateful, your welcome. I was really just practicing what I preach.
-T/O
Penal code section 370:
Penal code section 370: ANYTHING WHICH IS injurious to health, or is indecent, or OFFENSIVE TO THE SENSES, or an obstruction to the free use of property, SO AS TO INTERFERE WITH THE COMFORTABLE ENJOYMENT OF LIFE or property by an entire community or neighborhood, or by any considerable number of persons, or unlawfully obstructs the free passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake, or river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square, street, or highway, IS A PUBLIC NUISANCE.
Penal code section 372: Every person who maintains or commits any public nuisance, the punishment for which is not otherwise prescribed, or who willfully omits to perform any legal duty relating to the removal of a public nuisance, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
So yes, it looks like excessive BO is a misdemeanor. "Uh, BPD, we've got a 370 in car 1172...over..."
If you don't want people to
If you don't want people to piss in the trains, open the damn bathrooms.