Security guards pulled from Metro Park and Rides

10:51 AM CST on Thursday, January 13, 2005

By Amy Tortolani / 11 News

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HOUSTON -- Metro Park and Ride locations will no longer be watched over by security guards. Metro has decided to pull the guards, but increase patrols at the 26 Park and Ride locations.

KHOU

The security guard towers at Metro Park and Ride lots now sit empty.

Metro says it was spending $1.2 million on the full-time guards who didn't have weapons or the authority to make arrests. But they did provide peace of mind for daily riders like Debbie Moll.

"I don't like it at all," Moll said. "It's scary."

Metro says they didn't make the decision lightly.

"Well, the safety of an individual has never been a problem on a Park and Ride -- very few crimes on an individual," said Capt. Mike Raney with the Metro Police Department.

Diana Garcia would argue with that. She was attacked at a Park and Ride lot last year.

"They grabbed my sweater... and they pushed me back and said 'do you have any money?'" Garcia told 11 News. "They had a knife. A butterfly thing cause they swinged it. So I just got scared."

She's not the only one.

An 11 News investigation uncovered thousands of calls for help from Metro transit locations. Many calls were for burglary of a vehicle or car theft but the cases also included assault, aggravated assault, sexual assault and even homicides.

Now with patrols as the only form of security, Leticia Martinez worries who will watch out for her.

"It's kind of dangerous -- anyone can come up and grab you," Martinez said.

Security won't be an issue for the thousands of vehicles expected to jam some Park and Ride lots for the upcoming rodeo.

"The Metro security lots that we do use, we use after hours and we always put our own security there," said RodeoHouston spokesman Leroy Shafer. "We want every one of our patrons to know they will be as secure as they've always been."

Metro wouldn't say how many officers will patrol the lots. They also plan to add security cameras at each lot by the summer.