LOS ANGELES—Sheriff Alex Villanueva pledged to make local public transportation and coastal beaches safer this week by increasing patrol presence and enforcement amid a rise in crime in the county’s hot spots.
Villanueva said the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) will be cracking down on homeless people living on the trains after a string of violent attacks on riders over the last six months.
There are about 5,700 homeless people on Los Angeles County’s buses and trains, according to a count last August by the agency that operates the system, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).
Beginning June 1, LASD will start the “Operation Safe Travel” program on the Metro lines, where increased patrolling and enforcement will be implemented to curb rising assaults….