Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department

{{Short description|Transit police agency of the BART rail system in the U.S. state of California}} {{more references needed|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox law enforcement agency | agencyname = Bay Area Rapid Transit District Police Department | nativename = | nativenamea = | nativenamer = | commonname = BART Police | abbreviation = BARTPD | fictional = | patch = Patch of the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department.png | patchcaption = Current patch of the BART Police Department | logo = Patch of the Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department (Former).png | logocaption = Former patch of the BART Police Department | badge = | badgecaption = | flag = | flagcaption = | motto = | mottotranslated = | established = | mission = | formed = 1972 | preceding1 = | preceding2 = | dissolved = | superseding = | employees = | volunteers = | budget = | nongovernment = | country = United States | national = | federal = | international = | divtype = State | divname = California | divdab = | subdivtype = | subdivname = | subdivdab = | map = | mapcaption = | sizearea = {{convert|2,667.49|sqmi|abbr=on}} (land area in 4 counties) | sizepopulation = 4,082,982 (4 county area) | legaljuris = [[San Francisco Bay Area]], [[California]] | governingbody = [[Bay Area Rapid Transit District|BARTD]] | governingbodyscnd = | constitution1 = | police = | local = | military = | religious = | restriction = | overviewtype = | overviewbody = | headquarters = [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[California]], U.S. | hqlocmap = | hqlocleft = | hqloctop = | hqlocmappoptitle= | sworntype = Officer | sworn = 206 | sworn2 = | unsworntype = | unsworn = 90 | multinational = | electeetype = | minister1name = | minister1pfo = | minister2name = | minister2pfo = | minister3name = | minister3pfo = | minister4name = | minister4pfo = | minister5name = | minister5pfo = | minister6name = | minister6pfo = | chief1name = Kevin Franklin | chief1position = Chief of Police | parentagency = | child1agency = | unittype = | unitname = | officetype = Division | officename = 5 | provideragency = | uniformedas = | stationtype = Station | stations = 50 | airbases = | lockuptype = | lockups = | vehicle1type = | vehicles1 = | boat1type = | boats1 = | aircraft1type = | aircraft1 = | aircraft2type = | aircraft2 = | animal1type = K9 | animals1 = | animal2type = | animals2 = | person1name = | person1reason = | person1type = | programme1 = | activity1name = | activitytype = | anniversary1 = | award1 = | website = {{URL|http://www.bart.gov/about/police/|www.BART.gov}} | footnotes = }} {{Bay Area Rapid Transit sidebar}}

The '''BART Police''' ('''BARTPD'''), officially the '''Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department''', is the [[transit police]] agency of the [[Bay Area Rapid Transit|BART]] rail system in the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]]. The department has approximately three hundred police personnel, including over two hundred sworn [[peace officers]]. The [[Chief of Police|chief]], Kevin Franklin commands the agency's law enforcement, parking, and community relations services. BART Police participates in a [[mutual aid (emergency services)|mutual aid]] agreement with other [[San Francisco Bay Area|Bay Area]] law enforcement agencies. In 2011 and 2012 the department came under national scrutiny due to several officers involved in fatalities of the rail system's patrons.<ref>[http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/bart-warns-about-possible-protest/ BART warns about possible protest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108113132/http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/bart-warns-about-possible-protest/ |date=2011-11-08 }}, Zusha Elinson, ''[[The Bay Citizen]]'', 11-08-2011, access date 26-04-2012</ref>

When terrorism began to be treated as a more active threat after the [[September 11 attacks]], BART increased its emphasis on infrastructure protection. The police department hosts drills and participates in counter-terrorism working groups. The agency has an officer assigned full-time to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Furthermore, a command officer is designated as a mutual-aid, counter-terrorism, and homeland-security liaison. BART's [[Police Dog|police dogs]] are certified in explosives detection.

The stated goal of the BART Police Department is to build a more community-oriented police force that is tough on crime and strong on customer service. Zone commanders and their personnel form working partnerships with BART riders, employees, community groups, educational institutions, and businesses. The goal is to ensure that personal safety, quality of life, and protection of property remain among BART's top priorities for the stakeholders in its community.

== History == In 1969, three years before BART opened for revenue service, the transit district's board of directors recommended that local police and sheriff's departments patrol the stations, trains, rights-of-way, and other BART-owned properties that were within their respective jurisdictions. The police chiefs and sheriffs, forecasting that BART's proposal would create jurisdictional disputes and inconsistent levels of police service, rejected the board's proposal. As a result, legislation was passed to form an autonomous law enforcement agency, the BART Police Department.

During BART's first 13 years of revenue service, police officers reported to the transit district's headquarters in Oakland. In 1985, a team of officers was assigned to report to the Concord transportation facility, where a police field office was established. By not having to travel the 20 miles between Oakland and Concord, the officers were able to patrol their beats longer and become more familiar with the community. BART riders, station agents, and train operators benefited from having more police presence and interaction with the same officers. This led to three additional field offices within six months.

In July 1993, then-police chief Harold Taylor recommended a comprehensive plan to decentralize the department into four geographical police zones, each with its own headquarters and field offices. Zone commanders would be given personnel, equipment, and resources to manage their respective police operations. A peer-review panel, which included four police chiefs and the safety-audit administrator from the American Public Transportation Association, gave Chief Taylor's plan its endorsement, along with other recommendations on how the BART police could work more closely with other transit employees, communities, businesses, and schools that the transit district serves.

Police command-level officers provide input to planners for BART's future extensions to Warm Springs and Santa Clara County.

BART Police formerly had an eagle-top shield type badge, but in April 2011 switched to the 7-point star style traditional to Bay Area law enforcement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2010/news20110418|title=BART Police Department wearing new officer badges | bart.gov|website=www.bart.gov}}</ref> Uniforms are dark blue, similar to SFPD.

Officers are only issued [[SIG Sauer P320]] pistols by the department, but have the option of using firearms approved by the department at their own expense.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lexipol LLC. |date=27 May 2024 |title=BART PD Policy Manual |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/RELEASE_20240527%20BART%20PD%20Policy%20Manual%20for%20Website_0.pdf |access-date=30 June 2025 |website=bart.gov}}</ref>

===Officer-involved fatalities===

====Bruce Edward Seward==== In 2001, a mentally ill man named Bruce Edward Seward was shot by an officer at the Hayward Station. Reportedly the sleeping passenger awoke and grabbed the officer's nightstick causing the officer to reflexively shoot him; resulting in death.<ref name=familycondemns>{{cite news|author=Henry K. Lee |url = https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Family-condemns-BART-police-Mother-brother-of-2899262.php| title = Family condemns BART police / Mother, brother of mentally ill victim shot at station lash out |newspaper= [[San Francisco Chronicle]]| access-date = 2011-08-22|date=July 18, 2001}}</ref>

====Oscar Grant==== {{Main|BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant}}

In 2009, officer Johannes Mehserle fatally shot Oscar Grant III on the [[Fruitvale station]].<ref name=deadlybart>{{cite news|author=Jill Tucker |author2=Kelly Zito |author3=Heather Knight |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/02/MNB9152I2Q.DTL |title=Deadly BART brawl - officer shoots rider, 22 |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=2009-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104054941/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F01%2F02%2FMNB9152I2Q.DTL |archive-date=4 January 2009 |url-status=dead |date=2009-01-02 }}</ref><ref name="resign">{{cite news|author=Eliott C. McLaughlin|author2=Augie Martin|author3=Dan Simon| url = http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/07/BART.shooting/index.html?iref=hpmostpop| title = Spokesman: Officer in subway shooting has resigned| publisher = [[CNN]]|year=2009| access-date = 2009-01-05}}</ref>

[[witness|Eyewitnesses]] gathered [[direct evidence]] of the shooting with cellular video cameras which were later submitted to [[social network]]s such as [[YouTube]] in addition to media outlets. The videos were watched hundreds of thousands of times online.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10137796-93.html| title = Web videos of Oakland shooting fuel emotions, protests| publisher = [[CNET Networks]]|author=Elinor Mills|year=2009| access-date = 2009-01-09}}</ref> In the days following the shooting, peaceful and violent demonstrations occurred.<ref name="Bulwa">{{cite news|author=Demian Bulwa |author2=Charles Burress |author3=Matthew B. Stannard |author4=Matthai Kuruvilaurl |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/07/MN2N155CN1.DTL |title=Protests over BART shooting turn violent |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=2009-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116014530/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F01%2F07%2FMN2N155CN1.DTL |archive-date=16 January 2009 |url-status=dead |date=2009-01-08 }}</ref>

After an investigation and public uproar, Mehserle was arrested and charged with [[second-degree murder]], to which he pleaded not guilty. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2010 and was sentenced to two years. Mehserle served his sentence at the [[Los Angeles County Jail]] and was released in 2011 on parole.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/13/BAIJ1JT7CV.DTL | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613155116/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/13/BAIJ1JT7CV.DTL | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 13, 2011 | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | first=Demian | last=Bulwa | title=Johannes Mehserle, ex-BART officer, leaves jail | date=July 13, 2011}}</ref>

Subsequent to the criminal trial Oakland [[civil rights]] attorney [[John Burris]] filed a US$25 million [[wrongful death]] civil lawsuit against [[Bay Area Rapid Transit|BART]] on behalf of Grant's daughter and girlfriend.

In response to the Grant shooting, BART created a civilian oversight committee to monitor police-related incidents. The civilian oversight of the BART Police Department is directly attributable to the leadership of Assemblyman [[Sandre Swanson]] who authored the [[legislation]], BART director [[Carole Ward Allen]] who lobbied members of the [[California state legislature]] to create an oversight committee with an Independent Auditor position, and Governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] who signed the bill into law.<ref name="BARTcreates">{{cite news| title=BART board creates commission to oversee transit police | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-bart-shooting13-2009jan13,0,5145211.story | date=2009-01-13 | author=Maria L. La Ganga | newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

====Charles Hill==== In 2011, a mentally ill homeless man, Charles Blair Hill, assaulted two officers with weapons at the [[Civic Center / UN Plaza station]] in San Francisco. As a result, he was shot by BART police. The department reported that Hill was drunk and armed with two knives and a broken bottle. Approximately twenty-three seconds after arriving on scene, the officers fired three rounds, striking Hill in the chest and killing him. BART Police chief Kenton Rainey stated lethal force was appropriate.

The shooting of Charles Hill led to a non-violent but disruptive demonstration by approximately seventy-five protesters inside the Civic Center and [[16th Street Mission (BART station)|16th Street Station]]s on July 11.<ref name="San Francisco Examiner">{{cite news|title=Protesters storm BART, slow commute out of San Francisco |url=http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/07/protesters-storm-bart-slow-commute-out-san-francisco |newspaper=San Francisco Examiner |access-date=Aug 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111216194854/http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/07/protesters-storm-bart-slow-commute-out-san-francisco |archive-date=2011-12-16 }}</ref> Demonstrators departing the 16th St Mission station returned downtown on Mission St, blocking traffic and engaging in acts of vandalism en route.<ref name="San Francisco Examiner"/> One citizen was arrested for intoxication.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/crime/2011/07/bart-police-chief-says-officers-had-right-defend-themselves-against-knife-bottle|title=Man killed by BART cops had multiple knives|date=July 12, 2011|work=San Francisco Examiner|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909212749/http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/crime/2011/07/bart-police-chief-says-officers-had-right-defend-themselves-against-knife-bottle|archive-date=September 9, 2012|access-date=July 17, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Sahleem Tindle==== Officer Joseph Mateu shot and killed Sahleem Tindle in January 2018. Officer Mateu had heard shots, and ran to the scene where two men were fighting over a gun. He intervened, firing into Tindle's back three times. The shooting resulted in a civil rights lawsuit against BART. Prosecutors wound up declining to file any charges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/BART-officer-cleared-in-West-Oakland-shooting-of-13330146.php|title=BART officer cleared in West Oakland shooting of Sahleem Tindle|first=Evan|last=Sernoffsky|date=October 23, 2018|website=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref>

===Cell phone network shutdown=== On August 11, 2011, BART officials successfully prevented another evening-commute anti-police demonstration by shutting down the public cell phone network serving their jurisdiction in and between the downtown San Francisco stations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/cellphones-blocked-sf-hinder-transit-protest-041114962.html|title=Cellphones blocked in SF to hinder transit protest|date=August 13, 2011|work=[[Yahoo! News]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714184921/http://news.yahoo.com/cellphones-blocked-sf-hinder-transit-protest-041114962.html|archive-date=July 14, 2012|access-date=January 14, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The police had received information that the protest was to be coordinated live via internet and text messages. This was the first documented instance of any government agency in the United States shutting down public communications to disrupt a protest.<ref name="informant.kalwnews.org">{{cite news|title=BART's cellular shutdown: Safety or suppression? |url=http://informant.kalwnews.org/2011/08/barts-cellular-shutdown-safety-or-suppression/ |access-date=Aug 22, 2011 |newspaper=KALWnews.org |date=Aug 12, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330014017/http://informant.kalwnews.org/2011/08/barts-cellular-shutdown-safety-or-suppression/ |archive-date=2012-03-30 }}</ref> The [[American Civil Liberties Union]] called the decision "in effect an effort by a governmental entity to silence its critics."<ref>{{cite web|title=Free Speech and BART Cell Phone Censorship|work=American Civil Liberties Union |url=https://www.aclu.org/blog/free-speech-technology-and-liberty/free-speech-and-bart-cell-phone-censorship|access-date=Aug 22, 2011}}</ref>

== Operations == [[File:BART Police Ford CVPI.jpg|thumb|A [[CVPI|Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor]] of BART Police]] The BART police have various positions in their ranks. including [[peace officers]], [[community service officer]]s, [[dispatcher]]s, revenue protection guards, and administrative staff. Most officers are assigned to patrol, and others are assigned to special operations teams. [[File:BART_Police_Cars.jpg|thumb|alt=|Two BART [[Police car]]s in the parking lot of the [[North Berkeley station|North Berkeley BART]] station.]] The department's decentralized patrol bureau is divided into six police zones. Each has its own headquarters and field office(s). The police department has: criminal investigation, personnel and training, record, warrant, crime analysis, traffic administration, property and evidence, and revenue protection divisions. There is also the office of the chief which is composed of an internal affairs and a budget coordination office.

Further specialties for the police department include: field training officer, [[police dog|K9]], background investigations, crime analyst, administrative traffic officer, [[FBI]] [[Joint Terrorism Task Force]] (JTTF) investigator, special-enforcement teams, recruiting and personnel, and crisis intervention teams.

==Fatality== One BART police officer has died in the line of duty.

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Officer ! Date of death ! Details |- | Detective Sgt. Tom Smith<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Friendly-fire-kills-BART-police-officer-in-Dublin-5163548.php BART police officer shot dead by colleague in Dublin] ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', 2014-01-21, Retrieved 2014-02-04</ref> | {{center|Tuesday, January 21, 2014}} | Gunfire (friendly fire) |}

==See also== {{Portal|San Francisco Bay Area}} * [[New York City Transit Police]] * [[South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service]]

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== * BART Police Policies and Procedures Manual ** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130704020034/http://www.bart.gov/docs/police/BPD_Policy_Manual_20111013.pdf 2011 edition (PDF, 594 pages)] ** [http://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/PolicyManual20131025_0.pdf 2013 edition (PDF, 642 pages)] ** [https://web.archive.org/web/20240612125747/https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/Lexipol%20Policy%20Manual%20December%202020_0.pdf December 2020 edition (PDF, 827 pages)] ** [https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/RELEASE_20240527%20BART%20PD%20Policy%20Manual%20for%20Website_0.pdf 2024 edition (PDF, 1,006 pages)]

==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.bart.gov/about/police|BART Police}} * [http://www.bart.gov/ BART Website] * {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010522152357/http://www.bart.gov/about/police/aboutPolice.asp?cookiesTested=1 |date=May 22, 2001 |title=BART Police }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bart Police}} [[Category:Bay Area Rapid Transit]] [[Category:Transit police departments of the United States]] [[Category:Transit police departments of California]] [[Category:Government agencies established in 1972]]