Unsuck DC Metro: Metro Cop's Misplaced Rage?

Friday, December 10, 2010

Metro Cop's Misplaced Rage?

Given the frequency with which fare gates break down or bus fare machines are broken, the reaction seems a little excessive. What do you think? Metro Transit Police seem to shrug at harassment, a far more serious crime.

From K:

I am writing to report an extremely offensive encounter I had the other morning with one of the Metro Transit Police.

I was entering the turnstile at Greenbelt station. The first turnstile I tried was broken, so I used the one next to it, and I noticed the LED display was broken, yet the gate still worked.

My boyfriend entered after me, and we hurried to catch the train on the platform.

All of a sudden, we heard the policeman on duty repeatedly shouting, "Hey! Feel like paying your fare today?"

We turned and realized he was speaking to us.

Apparently, the gate didn't scan my boyfriend's SmartTrip card (which he couldn't have known, again, because the LED display on the gate was off).

Whether it read his card correctly or not I don't know, but if it didn't, he obviously would have had to pay once he tried to leave the system at his destination. I see that happening to people every day, and it's no big deal. The Metro employee just scans their card when they try to leave.

However, this policeman proceeded to yell at us and accuse us of stealing from the Metro system. He also lectured us like we were kids and held onto our SmarTrip cards, so we had to listen to his rant. He added that if he ever caught us doing that again he'd give us a $50 fine.

Seriously?

Yesterday I watched two teenagers literally squeezing themselves through a closed Metro turnstile, right in front of a Metro employee who did nothing to stop them, and this policeman yelled at us for 5 minutes when we did nothing wrong?

Is this part of some new system to crack down on people who hurry through the turnstile?

If so, at least make sure the LED displays on the gates are functioning properly.

I am really offended by this.

I pay the Metro system almost $14 a day.

If someone ever speaks to us like that again, like we're some kind of criminals, Metro will lose us as riders.

Get your transit police under control and have them start enforcing actual crimes that take place in the stations.

Other items:
What to do if you're harassed on Metro (WUSA9)
70% of Metrobuses off schedule (WaPo)
Metro legal fees hit $1.3 million in union fight (Examiner)

Comments (27)

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-10 Vote up Vote down

Corresponding Toads · 745 weeks ago

People 'round my work get offended easily because I do my job so well. They just jealous.

+9 Vote up Vote down

GDopplerXT · 745 weeks ago

This sounds like the exact same incident that was posted on this blog last month: http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/2010/11/not-tak... .

So did this *exact* same thing happen to two different couples weeks apart at the same Metro station, or is this the same story published again for our disapproval?

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

+8 Vote up Vote down

unsuckdcmetro 92p · 745 weeks ago

Good catch. They were submitted separately under two emails on different days. Will ask.

+2 Vote up Vote down

Sizzle · 745 weeks ago

Yeah, I was confused about that too. I knew it sounded repetitive. Wonder if they accidently posted it twice or if it's 2 different people with the exact same story.

0 Vote up Vote down

James · 745 weeks ago

Well...having the misfortune of using the Greenbelt station every day, I think it's probably two separate incidents. On the whole, I've noticed that the employees working Greenbelt are much ruder and more agressive than just about any other station.

+11 Vote up Vote down

Alex · 745 weeks ago

It is pretty ridiculous that I couldn't get a cop to respond to an assault that took place on a train on Tuesday night, but they are getting in people's faces for unknowingly not paying their fare. Seriously considering buying a car to clog the streets with.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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@kara_h · 745 weeks ago

Not to mention that they may indeed have paid it. The LEDs did not say what happened.

+3 Vote up Vote down

hrh king friday13 · 745 weeks ago

What the hell is wrong with these people at Metro?? The system is designed to prevent customers from exiting if your card didn't register at your point of enterance. Wouldn't it make better sense for the cop to "catch you" while you're trying to EXIT? Technically, that's when you're suppose to pay your fare. I dont understand why they flip out on people going IN.

7 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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GDopplerXT · 745 weeks ago

To correctly charge you the fare, your card needs to register upon entrance AND exit. If your card didn't register at the point of entrance, they still have to let you out, right? And if they just try to catch you coming out, how would they know what actually happened when you entered? You just say the turnstile was broken and they have no way of knowing if you're lying or not; but they have to let you out.

What makes better sense is for them to catch you at the time and place that you attempt to cheat the system - whether upon entrance or exit.

+2 Vote up Vote down

anon · 745 weeks ago

They have to let you out, but if they cannot determine your point of entry I believe they are allowed to charge the maximum amount. That's how it works on toll roads where you pay according to the exit you take to leave them. For example, the New Jersey Turnpike; if you lose your ticket, then when you exit you have to pay the highest rate.

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GDopplerXT · 745 weeks ago

OK, I wasn't sure about that - *if* they do in fact charge you maximum fare then they actually would have an incentive to let you sneak in, but only if they thought you would then be dumb enough to alert the attendant on the other end that your card didn't register on the way in.

I think this is all a moot point if you have no card at all or are just pretending to use it. Looking for people sneaking in as well as sneaking out theoretically doubles your chance of catching fare evaders, right?

+4 Vote up Vote down

anon · 745 weeks ago

Yes, but you can't say they're evading a fare when they enter, as there is no fare to enter. That'd be like stopping people before they entered a store because they're going to steal something - they don't have to pay for anything until they're leaving.

+4 Vote up Vote down

hrh king friday13 · 745 weeks ago

Thank you anon, that's my point exactly.

And yes, they do charge you the max unless you have a sympathetic booth operator (you can guess how often that happens). I've had that happened to me before. Metro actually make more money if you don't get read the first time... seems to me that's a pretty damn good reason not to get yelled at for "not paying your fare today.:

+3 Vote up Vote down

No Name Given · 745 weeks ago

No. I had a magnetic fare card that stopped working and the station manager (at Silver Spring) refused to let me out. He said that I can not buy another card and forfit it. When I asked what I am supposed to do, he said just stand there and wait. I jumped the fence and left.

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GDopplerXT · 745 weeks ago

Sure they can say that - I can't think of any other plausible explanation for not registering your smartrip or paper farecard when entering the system.

I think your store analogy is wrong. As I pointed out, assessing and paying your fare is a two-step process (entering and exiting); intentionally skip either one and the only conclusion can be that you are trying to not pay your fare. Unlike a store, there is no "browsing" on metro, once you're in, you're buying something.

+5 Vote up Vote down

Anonymous · 745 weeks ago

Maybe it was the same cop harassing everyone that day. Agree the two stories sound similar, but I'd give the benefit of the doubt to anyone but Metro.

+7 Vote up Vote down

ZZinDC · 745 weeks ago

I use U Street, Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, and Metro Center most frequently, and have noticed in recent weeks that the Faregate LED readouts are often not working and sometimes are not even present. Obviously if you stand and wait for the gates to open for you, you know your card has been read, but if you are following the person in front of you closely so that the gates don't close between you (thereby keeping traffic moving) you have no way of being sure that your card got read propoerly. Is the readout problem just shabby maintenance or part of some overall improvement?

+1 Vote up Vote down

Anon · 745 weeks ago

You were the wrong skin color!

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

-3 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 745 weeks ago

Racist remarks? Really? Who is this, Jackie Jeter?

+7 Vote up Vote down

Bet · 745 weeks ago

You might want to dress like a DC school kid, !

+2 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 745 weeks ago

I once saw a woman use her farecard to open the gates, then push her three small children through before she went. That's not legal, right?

4 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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@kara_h · 745 weeks ago

I used to think it was too when I saw someone do that. Unless the rule has changed, kids under a certain age are not charged.

I do think they should charge for those *(&(*&() strollers though as they take up more than the space an adult uses.

-1 Vote up Vote down

@VeggieTart · 745 weeks ago

I think you can have two children under the age of 4 or 5 per paying adult. I don't know for sure because my only child is a furry quadruped.

+3 Vote up Vote down

ess · 745 weeks ago

yes, it's 2 under 4. Of course, I see people all the time just tell their older kids to go through the emergency gate...most recently Wednesday evening during rush hour at Columbia Heights, directly in front of the station manager and a metro transit police officer.

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Sam · 745 weeks ago

I saw a teenage couple (about 16, guy and girl) piggyback through this week at Archives. The girl had a Smartrip card and swiped it. The guy walked through with her and pretended to put a card on the reader (his hand was empty). With their perfect timing and very convincing methods, I hardly doubt it was their first time doing that.

Also, two children 4 and under are allowed to enter for free with each paying adult.

+4 Vote up Vote down

Didi · 745 weeks ago

I think that guy used to work the Rosslyn Metro. He seemed to delight in screaming at old ladies. Public humiliation seemed to be his way of deterring fare theft. All the screaming just seemed out of proportion to the crime.

For the poster above - I think children under 5 ride for free. So, if her 3 kids were all under 5, then it was legal.