SFMTA: Undercover and uniformed police lead to drop in Muni crimes

Do you feel safer on Muni lately? Crime on Muni has dropped 18 percent from February 2015 to February 2016, according to SF Police Department Lieutenant Tim Paine. In a report by the SFMTA, the SFPD’s Muni Task Force, Muni Enforcement Team, and K-9 unit are using a combination of uniformed and plain-clothed officers on Muni to dissuade crime.

Wait, undercover police office on Muni? Here’s more from the report:

The Muni Task Force, or MTF, consists of plain clothes police officers who conduct covert and overt operations. They ride the lines as undercover officers doing active crime enforcement to target pickpockets, narcotics dealers and other illegal criminal behavior known to plague certain Muni lines and bus stops. Muni Task Force members also handle follow-up investigations where necessary.

The SFPD says that surveillance cameras on Muni buses also provide them with photos “as clear as a high school yearbook picture” of suspects, whom the police then distribute across the department.

Still, fighting, vandalism, and theft remain the top three illegal activities on Muni vehicles in February 2016, according to Paine. So keep your eyes up and your phones down, everybody.

Photo by torbakhopper