I don't understand why the wjla refers to the victim as "the man," when he's 16 or 17 and also referred to as a juvenile. This is a juvenile, teen, boy or child. NOT a man.

Why aren't regular police policing Metro? Why bother with "Metro Police"??? I used to live in Chicago, and the police there routinely walked through the train cars, and also got on and off the buses. They were a commanding presence, looking passengers in the eye as they walked through and saying hello.

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm a weird parent. I've told my DD to NEVER go with someone willingly, even if they have a weapon, esp if she is someplace where there is a crowd. She is to fight,scream, run and cause attention. The thought of someone taking her, then torture,rape, etc etc is too much, and I want her body found. The potential emotional, psychological scars is too great. Also, I've ensured Mom, House is no where listed in her phone contacts and she deletes all my text messages. I've told her that even if someone tells her I would be hurt she is to NEVER NEVER go. I do hope the teen will be fine eventually.

You know it's easier to say than do. You might think you'd react to fight, scream, or run, but if this reality ever happens to your daughter, do not guilt her if her response live up to your expectations or does not prevent her from getting hurt.

I agree that more police presence even if not on every car, would discourage incidents, plus more panic buttons as well. A 16-17 year old should be safe riding the metro.

Guess that race.

Anonymous wrote:
I take the red line with my two kids. These news stories make me sick, and my heart goes out to the victims.
I come from a capital city where the Metro has regularly been the scene of crimes, and is really hard to police because many stations have long underground tunnels to transfer to various lines. It's a maze down there.
I never thought the DC area Metro would descend to that level. This rail network seems so small and simple. I don't understand why it can't be better watched.

The problem is not that its not being "watched". The Metro system has been taken over by savages who can get away with just about anything that they choose. Metro allows DC public school students to ride free and that leads to a mob mentality when school lets out. Whatever you do don't ride the Red Line at 3pm when Wilson gets out. You are risking your life.

Time for "broken windows" policing of the metro. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

If there were one or two metro police actively policing each station, so that you could see a physical presence, and the police came down hard on the petty stuff, it would be much less likely to escalate. Same if they went after each and every major offender, hard. With all the cameras in the station and smart cards, this should not be difficult police work. As it is, people are getting robbed on the trains and no one is finding the perpetrators. Kids are beating up passengers and not getting charged. People get away with something small, they do it again, or go bigger.



15 years ago, they were arresting kids who brought food into stations. Remember John Roberts confirmation? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/07/AR2006010701003.html

Now this is OTT, but clearly, metro needs to get back to a zero tolerance policy.

I guess I'm a weird parent. I've told my DD to NEVER go with someone willingly, even if they have a weapon, esp if she is someplace where there is a crowd. She is to fight,scream, run and cause attention. The thought of someone taking her, then torture,rape, etc etc is too much, and I want her body found. The potential emotional, psychological scars is too great. Also, I've ensured Mom, House is no where listed in her phone contacts and she deletes all my text messages. I've told her that even if someone tells her I would be hurt she is to NEVER NEVER go. I do hope the teen will be fine eventually.

NOT sending my kid on Metro alone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I take the red line with my two kids. These news stories make me sick, and my heart goes out to the victims.
I come from a capital city where the Metro has regularly been the scene of crimes, and is really hard to police because many stations have long underground tunnels to transfer to various lines. It's a maze down there.
I never thought the DC area Metro would descend to that level. This rail network seems so small and simple. I don't understand why it can't be better watched.

Because the Metro police prefer to sit in their cars outside of stations than actually venture within the system. And even if they do, they only get as far as the fare gate. Metro police are basically just as lazy as the rest of the Metro workforce.

12:13 here. Okay. But even if those cops did get on the train cars, there aren't enough cops to be on enough train cars to really make a difference. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not sure there is an easy solution.

It seems to me like Metro would be difficult to police. For one, you can't move in between metro cars while the train is in motion. So it isn't like you can have a cop kind of just strolling through all of the train cars.

You'd basically have to have a lot of cops riding on train cars. I don't know how practical that is from a logistical perspective.

The other issue is cameras. But cameras only help after the fact, and even then, when there was a crime recorded on a station camera, it didn't help necessarily ensure that people faced consequences because of the quality of the footage.

What are some actual, practical things Metro and police could do to improve safety? I'm just at a loss. Maybe more panic buttons in train cars? Something someone could easily push if they were in distress and it would open up a two-way line to communicate to police?

I don't know.

Anonymous wrote:
I take the red line with my two kids. These news stories make me sick, and my heart goes out to the victims.
I come from a capital city where the Metro has regularly been the scene of crimes, and is really hard to police because many stations have long underground tunnels to transfer to various lines. It's a maze down there.
I never thought the DC area Metro would descend to that level. This rail network seems so small and simple. I don't understand why it can't be better watched.

Because the Metro police prefer to sit in their cars outside of stations than actually venture within the system. And even if they do, they only get as far as the fare gate. Metro police are basically just as lazy as the rest of the Metro workforce.

I take the red line with my two kids. These news stories make me sick, and my heart goes out to the victims.
I come from a capital city where the Metro has regularly been the scene of crimes, and is really hard to police because many stations have long underground tunnels to transfer to various lines. It's a maze down there.
I never thought the DC area Metro would descend to that level. This rail network seems so small and simple. I don't understand why it can't be better watched.

I read another article some place, I can't find it now, but in that article it said the boy is 17.

I don't know what it's going to take for the authorities to do something about the crime problem on the Metro.

Heart goes out to the kid, hope he is surrounded with all the love and support he needs.

Anonymous wrote:
It's complicated, but the teen was robbed near Bethesda Metro, then the guy got on the train there with him and coerced him into the bathroom at the Chevy Chase Pavillion, where he assaulted the teen. The victim is a male and it doesn't say his age. This happened at about 3 pm on a weekday.

The charge is abduction because the teen went unwillingly into the Chevy Chase Pavillion because the man flashed what the teen thought was a gun in his waistband of his pants.



http://wjla.com/news/local/metro-transit-police-man-charged-in-robbery-and-kidnapping


http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Teen-Says-He-Was-Kidnapped-From-Metro-Station-Sexually-Assaulted-381130151.html

Your article says the victim was 16.

WTF is going on in the Metro.

It's complicated, but the teen was robbed near Bethesda Metro, then the guy got on the train there with him and coerced him into the bathroom at the Chevy Chase Pavillion, where he assaulted the teen. The victim is a male and it doesn't say his age. This happened at about 3 pm on a weekday.

The charge is abduction because the teen went unwillingly into the Chevy Chase Pavillion because the man flashed what the teen thought was a gun in his waistband of his pants.



http://wjla.com/news/local/metro-transit-police-man-charged-in-robbery-and-kidnapping


http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Teen-Says-He-Was-Kidnapped-From-Metro-Station-Sexually-Assaulted-381130151.html