The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA) June 22 voted to move forward with a plan to create its own public safety department. The agency’s board of directors voted to have staff present a comprehensive plan—including department structure, regulatory rules, job descriptions, and pay ranges—for the board to consider in January 2024. “[We need…

LOS ANGELES—A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of murder in last week’s stabbing on a Metro Red Line train in Hollywood. Alex Garcia of Los Angeles, 27, was taken into custody at 5:40 p.m. April 8 near Santa Monica Boulevard and Gower Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department statement. He was being…

A Los Angeles judge has ruled the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department properly obtained warrants to search the home of county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and other locations targeted in a political corruption probe. However, he ordered the agency to turn over any items seized in the searches to the state Attorney General’s Office, which has…

California Attorney General’s Office has taken over a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigation into allegations of political corruption against the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority and county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. The move by Attorney General Rob Bonta was confirmed in a letter (pdf) sent to the sheriff’s department Sept. 20. The investigation was launched after a…

LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles City Council approved recommendations on May 13 from several city departments aimed at strengthening oversight and responding to street harassment on transit systems and public spaces in the city. Last June, Councilors—led by Council President Nury Martinez, Councilwomen Monica Rodriguez and Nithya Raman, and Councilmen Joe Buscaino, John Lee, and Mitch…

LOS ANGELES—Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva blamed so-called “woke” city leaders in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for the unsafe conditions on the city’s public transit lines during a press conference April 13 at the Hall of Justice. “When you’re on a train, or on a bus, you’re vulnerable to every occupant there…