Unsuck DC Metro: Too Much to ask Metro Staff to be Vigilant?

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Too Much to ask Metro Staff to be Vigilant?

From Josh:

At about 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 15, I was getting off the Branch Ave.-bound Green Line train at Naylor Road. As I was going down one of the rarely working escalators, a guy in his mid thirties was running up the escalators.

You could see in his eyes he had a malicious intent.

After pushing his way up the escalator, the punk started to raise his voice at a lady on the platform. As I was midway down the escalator, the lady began to scream for help. Everyone on the escalator, say 20 or so (and presumably everyone on the platform) turned around to watch what was going on. From my angle, I could see her head was level with the platform floor so she must have been knocked down.

No one did anything as she screamed for help.

I ran down the escalator and saw a MTPD officer and SEVERAL WMATA employees in the kiosk. Apparently, the cameras and monitors they have are a waste of money because they, too, did nothing.

As the punk passed everyone again on his way back, I informed the MTPD officer that the guy that just skipped the line at the turnstile without paying also just beat the sh*t out of a girl on the platform. They proceeded to mount up and chase the punk.

Apparently, this neighborhood is full of cowards--the kind of able-bodied young men/cowards that would hear a women scream for help and do nothing. But that is outside of WMATA's scope.

But what is within WMATA's scope is the station attendants in the booth chatting the day away and not watching nor listening to what is going on.

The southern portion of the Green Line isn't exactly a retirement community. The staff should be vigilant at all times of their surroundings.

Either have staff willing to work, instead of taking siestas, or fire them all and reduce my cost by a few pennies.

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Comments (25)

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+28 Vote up Vote down

Danny · 631 weeks ago

It is hard for our attendants to sleep, feed racoons and pay attention. Sorry.

-12 Vote up Vote down

Cletus Jenkins · 631 weeks ago

I think your wording is a little confusing. Do you mean you were going up the escalator and the guy was going down? It also seems as though you could still see what was happening at the time. Why didn't you help? If you are going to call people out then I would assume you would be ready to help at a moments notice.

3 replies · active 631 weeks ago

+11 Vote up Vote down

transitizen 78p · 631 weeks ago

Naylor Road is aerial, so Josh was heading down OUT of the station and the "punk" was heading up the escalator toward the platform.

+31 Vote up Vote down

Nate · 631 weeks ago

He was riding down the escalator as the man ran up and knocked the woman to the floor. That's why he could only see from an odd angle. The next thing he did was run to the kiosk to summon help, which most people would probably consider to be "helping." Given that the other option was for him to chase down the man and enact vigilante justice, this seems like the best move. What do you recommend people do in a similar situation?

+7 Vote up Vote down

transitizen 78p · 631 weeks ago

Well considering the writer called people "cowards" for "not helping," whatever that means, I assumed that he DID want people to dispense vigilante justice on the guy.

-15 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 631 weeks ago

The lady "streamed" for help?

-2 Vote up Vote down

transitizen 78p · 631 weeks ago

I can't really see what the issue is here - he alerted the police to the situation moments after it happened and they went to chase the guy down. Unless we want MTPD to start being the thought police and stopping people because of the "malicious intent" in their eyes, what exactly was supposed to happen here?

1 reply · active 631 weeks ago

+16 Vote up Vote down

karah 81p · 631 weeks ago

Maybe actually look at the monitors and pay attention if someone screams rather than gab?

+27 Vote up Vote down

josh · 631 weeks ago

I was going down, the dirt bag was going up against the escalator. I was about 1/3 of the way down when I heard her screams. I could have 1) run up against the escalator or 2) ran down and alerted the metro police officer down stairs. Could you make an argument for me to run up to the platform and stomp on the guys head? I guess. Frankly if this were to happen again I would have to consider if I should handle it myself or get the cops. But what did not want to see was a crowd of people doing nothing or just video taping it (to later post it on worldstar or YouTube).

What is not up to debate is the role of the WMATA staff. They should be the eyes and ears of the train system. I am not asking for them to upper cut obnoxious teenagers, but considering what kind of neighborhood Temple Hills is, they should be on alert.

6 replies · active 631 weeks ago

+21 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 631 weeks ago

Josh, I totally understand and feel your pain. Been there. I was assaulted twice at West Falls Church, and nobody did anything. THe station manager did nothing, when I ran for help. He just let the guy run down the escalators for the Herndon/Reston buses.

You did the right thing, and the safest thing, because who knew if that punk had a gun? But what WMATA did was wrong. Go figure, WMATA doing nothing at all.

+5 Vote up Vote down

Steve · 631 weeks ago

Assaulted at WFC? Not that I don't believe you, but what happened? I boarded/exited there every workday for a year, and I never saw anything fishy.

+4 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 631 weeks ago

Steve, this happened in 2010. Guy cut me off while trying to walk up the escalators. I tried to just go around him and avoid him, he tried to shove me, I told him to GET OFF ME, NOW. Next thing I knew, he'd grabbed my coat from behind (I have one of those coats with a hood) and spun me around and I thought he'd go for my throat, so I stepped towards him, screamed at him to GET THE F*CK OFF ME RIGHT NOW!!!!! Not one person stopped to help me. Not. One. Manager did nothing. MPD did nothing. I was terrified to ride the Orange Line in the evening, for weeks. I no longer get on or off there since I moved, but I saw lots of stuff, all the time, right around 5:15. People would get nasty, shove, push, especially heading for the Reston/Herndon buses.

Never did find the guy who did this to me but I'm hoping that Karma really got him good.

-10 Vote up Vote down

EggbertMcDuckenstein · 631 weeks ago

Did he grab your coat before or after you punched him? Or are you a different Heather having issues at WFC?

+2 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 631 weeks ago

Eggbert, not that your reply even deserves an answer, but I acted in self-defense. Which is why I stay away from WFC anymore, too many people who think that shoving people around is acceptable behavior.

-5 Vote up Vote down

EggbertMcDuckenstein · 631 weeks ago

I hate to break it to you Heather, but getting cut off and shoulder checked is pretty much the norm for any Metro station at rush hour. WFC is a day in the park compared to Gallery Place or Metro Center.

-2 Vote up Vote down

Anony-moose · 631 weeks ago

Bystander effect: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

1 reply · active 631 weeks ago

+3 Vote up Vote down

rory · 631 weeks ago

When I'm a witness to a desperate woman getting beaten, and she asks me for help, I just tell her "sorry, google Bystander effect"

+10 Vote up Vote down

FormerWMATA · 631 weeks ago

WMATA????? stands for WE Meet And Talk Allday....
Not surprising at all. WMATA emplyees are either blind or deaf.

+7 Vote up Vote down

Kathryn · 631 weeks ago

It's just not reasonable to expect the average person, who might have taken a two-hour self defense course ten years ago, to try to mount a physical response to an assault situation. Even people who know how to respond might think twice, depending on how much they have trained lately.

I utterly agree, however, that the WMATA staff needs to be more vigilant about what goes down in their stations.

2 replies · active 631 weeks ago

+6 Vote up Vote down

karah 81p · 631 weeks ago

According to the post above the gaggle included a MTPD peep. I would certainly hope they should know what to do!

+4 Vote up Vote down

Heather · 631 weeks ago

That's very true; two years ago, I witnessed the end of a bit of a "scuffle" between a guy and a woman, the guy I recognized, and has a history of being pushy and shoves women on escalators. I just happened to catch the end, where the woman shouted at him that the very next time he did it, she'd have his a$$ on the ground. I walked her to her bus because I could tell she was shaken up and angry and scared. I told her that I understood, have been there myself, and that it is why I now carry pepper spray with me for my commute.

I haven't seen the guy in a very long time, but I never would have put it past him to have a concealed weapon on him; he just seemed like a ticking time bomb, to me.

+6 Vote up Vote down

sdfasdf · 631 weeks ago

Josh,

Your logic is flawed. You assume Metro employees care.

+11 Vote up Vote down

Concerned · 631 weeks ago

I have seen many many youth of a certain racial persuasion flagrantly jumping the turnstyles. Even when the alarm goes off, both station managers and security of the same race ignore these crimes.

+1 Vote up Vote down

John S · 631 weeks ago

Metro RAIL - Rudeness Apathy Incompetence Laziness

+4 Vote up Vote down

John J Johnson · 631 weeks ago

The employees standing around inside the kiosk seem to be in violation of the WMATA MSRPH (Metro Safety Rules and Procedures Handbook).

WMATA MSRPH 1.51 Employees shall not loiter about station kiosks. Entry into station kiosks and use of kiosk telephones by employees other than Station Managers is restricted to emergencies, unusual occurrences, or required maintenance.